A Fools Granddaughter
by ciderwriter
Summary: What was life like at Hogwarts in-between the marauders and the Golden Trio? What was life like for Lana Dumbledore and her three best friends: Tonks, Charlie and Noah Diggory? 1st in series, SEQUELS NOW UP!
1. The Start

Hello!

the first three chapters here have been updated and sorted etc... but if you are just reading this then thankyouu!

I know the chapters are short but About 18 chapters in, I start getting up t 16 pages so YAY!

This was my first fic, and the sequel is currently being written/ uploaded.

I always appreciate reviews and reply to all that i can!

Enjoy!

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><p>When I hear people talk about their childhoods, I never seem to focus. They spew out happy memories and jolly times, they speak so lovingly of their families and friends.<p>

But most of my childhood had been forgotten for a very long time. It took me years to remember the good stuff. For a very long time, I only had one memory.

And it was the only thing I wanted to forget.

*Flashback*

I was only seven years old, playing quietly in my nursery when I heard shouting coming from downstairs. I was a rather inquisitive child, no doubt. I always seemed to find myself in rather tricky situations. Luckily, we lived in the middle of a forest, free from the prejudice of muggles.

My parents were proud wizards, but stood for what was right. They were by far the most important people in the wizarding world. And they were to me. But they were busy, almost allot of the time. And I was often forced to spend more time with my nanny then I would have liked. But I knew they loved me and that was good enough for me.

As the noise continued coming from down the stairs, I pulled on my dressing gown and after a moments thought, I retrieved my invisibility cloak and pulled it over my shoulders so that just my head was appearing. I fled down the marble staircase it seemed to take forever to get down the four grand flights of stairs. I turned the corner and reached the landing of the first floor.

My young green eyes instantly found those of glassy blue and a startled scream left my lips.

There, surrounded by a pool of scarlet blood lay my nanny dead on the floor.

Her glasses were beside her, cracked and bent, her robes were bloodstained and creased and a tear stain shone in the light.

I dropped down to my knees beside her and reached forwards to close her frightened eyes.

I knew then it had to be the killing curse. My parents had told me about these things. The look of horror on a face after being hit with the killing curse.

It wasn't a look I had ever anticipated seeing. Especially not at seven. I had often wondered what look could be so sad and scared. And after seeing it, it stayed imprinted in my memory. Forever.

I was no ordinary child. My family was the most powerful, clever and popular families around. My mother was Elizabeth Dumbledore. My father was Henry Dumbledore. His father was Albus Dumbledore was the greatest wizard of his age. Although I'd never met my granddad, Father often spoke about his greatness when mother was not around, Therefore I knew things other seven year olds didn't.

I knew we were at war. I knew about spells and magic. My father made sure of that and he always made sure I was given access to all the books I could want. After reading many a book, and practising in the confines of fathers study, It became apparent I had a real flare for wandless magic. After learning that, I focused on silent magic- but had a little more trouble with that.

Living in the middle of nowhere, I lived a fairly sheltered life. The forest was my playground and the house-elves were my friends. Therefore, I never knew pain or suffering until that day. I closed the eyes of the woman who had cared for me for my whole life and then hurried down to find my parents.

Jumping down two steps at a time, The shouting began to increase in volume and screams added to the noise.

I pulled my invisibility cloak over my head and crouched behind the banister while I got back my breath.

Peering over the top of the white wood, I recognised some men from the daily prophet. They had long black cloaks on and masks which made them look like skeletons. They were creepy to say the least. The men were talking in hushed voices, a few were holding the door to the drawing room shut.

After a few moments, they began running towards me. I flattened myself against the wall and the men piled past me up the stairs.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I tiptoed down the stairs and entered the drawing room, still covered by the cloak.

As the door opened the noise increased tenfold and I quickly realised I had entered a battle. I dashed behind the nearest settee to avoid the mass of spells shooting out from every direction. I crawled around the edge, being careful not to show any flesh and saw my mother. she was slumped against the fireplace, blood steaming from her head. Her eyes, like the nanny's were open and glassy.

Tears filled my own eyes.

My father was stood in front of her. It was the first time I had seen him cry. But suddenly, his eyes focused on me and widened in horror. A burst of green came out of nowhere and in seconds, He was slumped against the marble pillar behind him and then falling to the floor.

I will never forget the look of horror in his eyes because the look will always be a reminder of the guilt because to the day I don't know if the look was for knowing I was there in the battle, or if it was the curse.

I let out a roar of anger, which nobody heard in the noise of the battle.

Powered by my fury I jumped from behind the settee and made my way across the room, silently taking out any masked man I encountered.

I reached the dining room, where I saw a man who I recognised to be my grandfather. His long silver hair flying behind his back with the force of his spells and his crooked nose wrinkled with frustration.

I slammed the door behind me causing the few still fighting to turn in surprise.

Then I pulled my cloak off and said in a voice as commanding and strong as I could muster.

'Who murdered my parents?"

I looked around impatiently until I heard a woman speak out. Her voice was mockingly sweet and fake.

"aaaaaaaaw, is ickle Lana missing mummy and daddy?"

she asked viciously. I recognized the voice immediately. It was a distant cousin Cornelia. We had met on occasion at my parents fundraisers. She had always mocked me.

"shut up!" I screamed, tears pouring down my face. I raised my hand out and sent a jet of Orange light out.

For a moment she looked confused but then the confusion turned to agony as my magic burst and she flashed red, turned to stone and then crumble to the floor.

In an instant my grandfather had picked me up and wrestled me away from the sight. As I tired grabbing onto anything o could I saw several dead bodies littered on the floor of my home.

And that's when I realized. They were all in my path to the dining room.

I had killed them all.

*end flashback*

I don't remember anything after that. I know I woke up in the hospital wing of Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry a month later.

My memories of the ordeal were distorted for a very long time, until I began training in the art of the mind with my tutors.

My parents funerals were short and private in the church of Hogwarts at the back of the school. Few attended.

From then I travelled around at the wish of my grandfather, he sent me to all his friends, he called in all his favours just so I was trained in everything possible before I arrived at Hogwarts.

I hardly ever saw my grandfather. He visited occasionally. Most often to test my occlumens. As I grew I became more aware and leant more about my family. My position as the heir to the Dumbledore fortunes, and my future.


	2. A Trip To the Alley

By the time Lana Dumbledore turned eleven it seemed there was not much more she could possibly learn.

She had spent four years learning, and filling her time with books and training. It was the only things she could do.

Travelling around the worlds was great generally, but having lost her parents. Having no-one to comfort her and being completely alone in the world made Lana resent her grandfather greatly. She had practically vanished off the face of the earth.

Having been brought up as a pure blood, Lana was fully aware of everything magical. But as a child, Lana had been told of places such as Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and dreamed of visiting them.

She had never gotten the chance.

Until she became school age and it was time to buy her school items. Personally, Lana didn't see the point but complied to her grandfathers wishes.

So, as the two remaining Dumbledores entered the Cobbled street, Lana gazed in wonder at the scene.

The busy street watched Albus and the girl modestly, it wasn't out of the ordinary to see the headmaster accompanying a new student to get their supplies.

"Lana?" Albus Dumbledore said to his granddaughter impatiently as she stared in awe at the many people and shops.

She appeared to have not heard him so he made a small cough. Then she turned and he gave her a disapproving look. If the hopes of the wizarding world lay on his granddaughter, the world was definitely in trouble.

"I have business to attend to in gringotts, I'm sure we will cross paths later. If not I shall meet you in the Leaky Cauldron at 3 o'clock." he added his blue eyes piercing the girls large green eyes.

"of course granddad" Lana replied bitterly, only meeting his gaze for a moment before looking in amazement at the street once more.

She made sure her money was still in her bag and then set off down the street.

She walked slowly but the blustering wind was making her long dark hair fly backwards as if she were running.

Not many people paid attention to the young girl out on her own. Even in such dark times. They were too busy making sure they got what they wanted and then left.

Those that did send a glance in her direction saw a tall pale girl with dark brown hair in soft waves and large green eyes.

If it wasn't for her height and her cleverness, you would'nt be able to tell she was related to her grandfather at all.

She reached the first shop which was the cauldron shop and dashed inside, out of the bitter winds.

She was quickly handed a standard size pewter cauldron and left the shop. She carried on down the alley making all of her purchases. She also stopped and bought a few other luxuries form the alley such as fine emerald dress robes with golden flowers embroidered into the sleeves and some beautiful parchment and a phoenix quill.

Finally she reached the last shop which she had been most looking forewords to. Ollivanders wand makers.

Cautiously, she entered the shop and found it quite deserted apart from a tall boy with reddy, brown hair sat in the corner fiddling with the fraying hems of his woolly jumper.

"Hello! I'm Lana" she said politely and sat next to him. He immediately straightened up and coughed.

"oh…I'm Charlie Weasley." he said trying to hide the holes in his jumper.

"oh, I have heard of the Weasleys! My grandfather speaks very highly of your family." Charlie looked disbelieving but quickly lightened up.

"so are you staring Hogwarts this year too?" Lana said excitedly

"yeah, cant wait to get sorted my parents and brother were in Gryffindor" he told her.

"cool! My father was, I think my mother was a hufflepuff. So you have a brother?"

The boy frowned for a moment when Lana had pondered about the house of her parents but answered quickly.

"yeah 5 actually and a little sister." he said proudly.

"n'aaaawr! how old if you don't mind me asking?," she asked happily. It wasn't often she was able to talk to children her own age.

"Ginny's the youngest and she's is 1, Ron is the next he's 2, then Fred and George: the twins. They're 4. Percy is 7 and bill is older than me and he's 12- starting his third year at Hogwarts this year."

"wow. It must be amazing to be surrounded by family." Lana said with a sad smile.

"yeah, I love them all it's a bit crowded sometimes though! Especially with the twins. I swear they're evil. They never stop with the pranks!" he laughed. Lana laughed to but the sad smile on her face intrigued Charlie.

"what about you?" he asked quietly, in case it was a touchy subject.

"my parents died when I was 7. I've travelled since then" Lana only told him the bare minimal.

"I'm sorry Lana, I shouldn't have asked." he apologized and looked down.

"naaah its fine. You told me and I told you!" she attempted a smile.

"so, have you got all your shopping done?" Charlie asked to change the subject.

"yeah I just need to get-" Lana was interrupted by footsteps and then a wheezy voice.

"aaah, miss Dumbledore. I've been expecting you!" he gasped. And peered at her through his beedy eyes. His hair was gray and wispy and his small eyes were glassy like tiny orbs.

Lana heard Charlie gasp beside her. She ignored this and stood to greet the man.

" Mr ollivander I presume? She enquired calmly

"at your service miss Dumbledore." he said kindly, bowing his head slightly.

"I remember the day your mother stepped into my shop my dear, she purchased a finest rosewood and unicorn hair wand. 10 inches. And of course your father he had a sturdy walnut and dragon heartstring wand." he told her as if it was yesterday the deed happened.

"that's interesting. Nobody ever told me that before." she told him earnestly, trying to remember what her parents wand had looked like.

"I remember every wand I ever sold miss Dumbledore. What we cannot forget is that the wand chooses the wizard!" he said dramatically and then turned with a flourish towards the mountainous piles of boxes in the back of the store.

Much to Lana's surprise he dove into the pile and began throwing boxes around.

"is he always like this?" she asked Charlie uncertainly.

"he has been whenever I met him" he shrugged.

"oh, have you got you wand then?" she asked him. He had been here longer than her but hadn't seemed to have bought anything she wondered.

"yeah I got mine earlier. I'm just waiting for my dad to pick me up. He works in the ministry." Charlie said looking out the window.

"oh that must be cool! So what wand did you get?"

"Elm and dragon heartstring..…Eleven inches" he added proudly.

"oh wow. I wonder what I'll get?" she pondered.

Suddenly Charlie jumped up and started pulling his bags off the floor.

"dads here" he told her as he grabbed some items that had rolled out of his bags and stuffed them back in.

"oh..okay" she sighed. It had been nice talking to him, even if it had been a little awkward. The last time she had spoken to someone around her age was four months ago when she had stayed with the Flamells. Their daughter Marie flamell was a few years older then Lana and obsessed with her looks.

Lana watched as a tall and thin man entered the shop quietly. He had red hair with a small tinge of grey starting to show at the sides.

"dad!" Charlie said as the man entered.

"hello son! got everything?" he asked as he took some bags off Charlie.

"yes dad, hey this is Lana Dumbledore" he introduced Lana who smiled politely.

"Lana this is my father, Arthur Weasley" he told her.

"its very nice to meet you sir!" she said holding out her hand. He shook it heartily.

"no the pleasure is mine. I knew your parents well. I went to school with them in fact." he told her still shaking her hand.

"dad!" Charlie said turning a violent shade of red. Mr Weasley immediately let go of her hand and began pounding her with questions.

"have you just met our Charlie then?" he asked firstly.

"erm.. Yes " she mumbled

"oh that's nice. I don't suppose you know a lot of children your age !" he said to himself really.

"no, its mainly me and my tutors." Lana said glancing at the back of the shop to see if Mr. ollivander was done.

"you should come to ours sometime! molly, my wife, would love it!" he said happily. Lana glanced nervously at Charlie who was looking down at his feet. Feeling slightly torn between saying yes and no. Finally she decided to use her beginner skills of leniency to see what Charlie thought.

' _that'd be cool. Not like she would want to: she's a Dumbledore- she's probably friends with better people.. Were poor - she is rich and clever and pretty..' _Lana withdrew immediately.

"Mr Weasley I would love to visit!" she said with a big smile on her face.

Soon after Mr Weasley and his son left the shop happily leaving Lana to herself and Mr Ollivander.

After what seemed like forever Ollivander appeared at the till again and procured a beautiful wooden box from his pocket.

The box was made of a dark wood and had strange ruins carved into it . Along the sides were lilies and elderflowers.

He slowly pulled the lid off to reveal a creamy gray wand with intricate carvings and jewels set into it.

" willow bark, phoenix feather and unicorn hair!, 11 inches." he whispered chillingly.

"its beautiful!" she whispered back " what are those carvings and jewels"

"this is the warriors wand miss Dumbledore. The carvings tell the story of the trials you face. In time you will understand them. And the stones are ruby, emerald, sapphire and hessonite. They represent the four founders and the skills you must use in time" he told Lana seriously.

"brilliant!" was all Lana could say.

She quickly paid the strange man and the exited the shop.

How on Earth was she going to explain that to her grandfather!


	3. The Burrow!

I cannot remember ever being as exited as I was for my trip to the burrow. I found it so hard to sleep the night before with my excitement.

The night before took forever to end but eventually the sun rose and I could head down to breakfast.

I ate quickly and ran back to my chambers to get dressed. At the time I was living at Hogwarts with my grandfather so I was often left alone. Although my grandfather didn't seem thrilled at the idea of my leaving for the day. He agreed, however reluctantly he did so.

I dressed in pale pink and pale green robes and then entered the fireplace.

I said 'the burrow' and felt the familiar sensation of being squeezed through a tube. And then after a few seconds I saw the brightly coloured hair of Mr Weasley and the somewhat browner hair of Charlie.

I rushed out of the fireplace an coughed slightly.

Mr Weasley was the first to greet me.

"sorry about that Lana, it needs cleaning that fireplace." he told me and brushed some ash of my shoulder.

"no problem Mr. Weasley!" I said brightly. Nothing was going to spoil today.

He walked over to the door and shouted for molly. Who came bustling in and an old burnt apron with her red hair falling beside be round face.

"aaah you must be Lana!" she smiled at me and put her arms around my shoulder leading me through the living room and into the kitchen. I stared in wonder. All the houses I had ever stayed at had been so pristine and Zen. Whereas this house was cosy and warm. It was cluttered but not messy and the many discarded knitted items such as blankets or jumpers gave it a welcoming feeling.

The kitchen was just as cosy. But what interested me most was the beautiful clock on the wall. It appeared old as the wood was cracked and the dust lay thick but you could still make out 9 hands at the same point on the clock. Where you would normally find numbers lay words such as 'home' , 'work or ' travelling' and the hands had a beautiful painted face of each of the Weasleys.

"your home is beautiful Mrs Weasley" I complimented sweetly.

"thank you my dear, now have you eaten because I'm sure I can fix you something up" she asked .

"no thank you mrs Weasley" I told her. My stomach rumbled in protest but luckily nobody heard.

"its no trouble dear!" she insisted peering at me as if I hadn't eaten in months.

I shook my head but thanked her again.

Eventually she left to hang the washing out leaving myself and Charlie an awkward silence.

"erm, want to meet the family?" he asked turning bright red.

"love to" I smiled at him. I needed to act confident otherwise this day would end up an awkward, silent nightmare.

He lead me into the hall an dup several flights of creaky stairs.

We chatted idly about Hogwarts and I told him everything I knew about the school, which to be fair was not a lot.

We reached the last floor.

"I thought we'd work our ways back down?" he asked

"brilliant." I smiled again.

He opened the door into a small room with a sloped ceiling. Inside the room was a small toddler totting around the room. With toy bricks.

"is he old enough to be alone?" I asked him quietly.

"yeah mum has charms up!" he assured me before we quietly closed the door.

"he's a lovely kid don't get me wrong, but he can get very angry and very stubborn" he informed me as we went back down the stairs. I noticed Charlie had opened up more now and was chatting easily.

"okay so on this floor there is Percy and gin and me." he told her.

"I don't thin k well bother perce. He's a right little know it all! And Ginny will be downstairs with mum." he told me shrugging.

"okay then" I said. I didn't really know what else to say to that.

"erm..this is my room" he said opening a dark oak door onto a small bedroom. It had a small bed in the corner and a desk lined with books on quidittch and care of magical creatures. The walls were faded red with gold trim and his carpet was worn and faded.

"its lovely!" I gasped. I really did love it. It was simple yet beautiful.

"its not much!" he hastily added.

"Its really nice Charlie. I wish my room was this nice!" I told him honestly.

"why is your bad?" he asked frowning and walked out of the door.

"well, not really. But I hate it. For you your room has the things you love in it. it's a sanctuary. Mine is just a place to sleep. Its cold and bare." I complained to Charlie but I knew he would love my room. It was large and well furnished.

We reached the next floor and heard manic laughter.

"so this is Fred and Georges room and mum and dads, and bills." he said.

Then he opened the door with the laughter coming from it onto 2 happy four years olds giggling at a book.

"hey guys, what's that?" Charlie asked casually plonking down on the bottom bunk.

Lana cautiously followed and perched next to him. She had never seen twins before. And they were identical in almost everyway. They both had bright red hair and a large amounts of freckles dotted across their noses. They were both wearing sky blue tee- shirts and green cargo shorts.

"we're reading!" on of them said brightly.

"no your not, you cant read! What is that?" Charlie asked amused.

"Percy's diary!" they said in unison and then burst out laughing again.

"guys!.. So this is Lana by the way." he told them and nodded towards me.

"Hello!" they said together.

"Hi" I said smiling at them.

"I'm Fred!" one of them said and bowed formally.

"no!, I am !" the other shouted and stuck his tongue out.

"oh yeah!" the first replied then they burst out laughing.

_Okay… Fred has a freckle under his left eye that's bigger than the rest. George has a chicken pox scar behind his ear._

I had looked for marks to recognize them, if anything Charlie had said was true then they would definitely be puling a few pranks on me soon.

After the tour of the house we left the house to take a walk in the hot August sun. Only then I had the chance to see The Burrow from the outside. It was unlike any house I had ever seen. It looked like a wonky pile of boxes. I assumed there was magic in place to hold it up. We walked down the long garden, dodging chickens as we walked.

Finally we came to a rusty gate. It creaked open slowly and we walked through it towards the fields. The sun shown down on Charlie's hair making it look redder than ever before. Blushing a little, I hurried to catch him up.

"So, did you get your wand then?" Charlie asked as we reached a slight slope. I wondered whether I should tell him about the fact it was the 'warriors wand', but decided against it.

After all I had only known the boy for a week. I hadn't even shown it my Granddad and I had known him all my life. Then again, I always felt distanced from him, like I was just an acquaintance instead of family. Realising I had been silent I quickly answered his question.

"Yeah, it's beautiful!" I gushed.

"Really? What is it?" he pressed on.

God this is uncomfortable.

"It's willow bark, phoenix feather and unicorn hair. Eleven inches" I told him.

"Two cores? That's practically unheard of. You must be a really powerful witch!" He said, intrigued.

I tripped and chocked thinking back to the night my parents died. watching as the orangey red light shot out of my hand and engulfed Cornelia. Stepping over the pile of stone and dust. The lights and screaming and death everywhere.

I stumbled backwards in shame. The sun was beating down on my face and I felt dizzy and sick.

"Lana?… Lana!" I heard Charlie's shouting but I couldn't reply. My throat was dry. Charlie took my arm and guided me and sat me down on a nearby boulder. I took a few breaths. My vision cleared slightly and I felt less dizzy.

"Sorry" I mumbled to the floor.

"Are you okay?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah I was just remembering something" I told him honestly. I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"What?" He asked gently. Sitting next to me, we looked down at the burrow at the bottom of the hill.

"The night my parents died" I sighed. Then Charlie put his arm over my shoulder and squeezed my arm.

" The noise woke me up. There was shouting and screaming. I went downstairs and saw her. I saw my Mum dead on the floor, and my Dad stood in front of her. He was crying. I never seen him cry before. And he saw me stood in the middle of battle. And he died too" My voice was breaking, but I couldn't stop. After 4 years of not speaking about it I was sick and tired of pretending that it hadn't happened.

"I went to the dining room and found Granddad, but there was a woman. She mocked me for missing my parents. And I-" the tears flowed down my face and I forced sobs down my throat.

"I did underage magic. I killed her Charlie." I let out a lone sob and then held my breath waiting for Charlie's reaction. " I understand if you don't want to be friends with me anymore." I added, not meeting Charlie's eyes.

After a minute Charlie still had a contemplative look on his face which worried me greatly.

Finally he spoke.

"I think … I think that you are the bravest person I have ever met." he said squeezing my arm again.

"I murdered a woman because she laughed at me"

"Look, Lana, I wasn't there and I can't imagine the horror that night contained for you, but I know you are too nice to feel guilty for this."

I though about this for a moment.

"I can show you if you want?" I asked tentatively.

"Only if you want to share that with me, Lana!" I nodded and focused on my Legiments.

"This is a skill I was taught recently. Occluments and Legiments. Occluments shield the mind. Legiments allows you to enter somebody else's." I informed him, while preparing the memory.

"But how can you do that without Magic?" He asked anxiously.

"Well, lets just say some people don't need wands to do Magic." I cringed.

"No way!" He gasped looking shocked.

I coughed and nodded shyly.

"Bloody Hell, you must be a good witch" He winked at me and braced his shoulders as if ready for an attack.

"This isn't going to hurt, Charlie" I said softly.

"I know" He replied relaxing a little.

"Ready?" He nodded and I whispered the spell. I thought it would be better if Charlie didn't know about the silent casting for a while.

I focused on the memory pouring into his mind. While in his mind, I considered tidying up a bit, just encase my Grandfather decided to take a look around. Which I knew he was prone to doing.

I decided against it and waited anxiously. About 15 minutes later the memory ended and Charlie looked up, amazed.

"Remind me never to cross you!" He laughed. I couldn't help myself and I laughed with him.

"No, seriously though. Nobody would have done any different" He said, sobering up.

"No?" I asked worried.

"No" He smiled and got up, pulling me with him.

"Come on, I bet mum's worried sick! You should see her in a state; Its hilarious! Then again, I bet lunch is ready too!"

"Ha-ha! Yeah, lets go and get you some food before you turn on me" she grinned, cheekily.

We walked back up to the house, where we found a frantic Mrs. Weasley hovering over the cooker staring out of the window.

She howled when she saw us and rushed to give her son a hug.

Then out of nowhere she pulled me in for a hug as well. It was calming and motherly. Something I hadn't experienced in a long time. The house elves were lovely, but there's only so much comfort you can get from them.

"Oh, where have you been?" She asked looking us up and down like she was checking for any injuries.

"We're fine, Mum." Charlie insisted.

"Mrs Weasley, Voldemort has been gone for a year. There's no need to fear the world anymore." I said soothing. She jumped at the name but didn't say anything. Until-

"Oh you poor baby, here, I am crying because I haven't seen you in 45 minutes and you haven't seen your Mum in 4 years! And now your going to Hogwarts and I - " she started sobbing.

"Charlie will be fine, Mrs Weasley! The war was hard, but your generation, they put thing's right for us, there will never be another war again!" I finished, confidently.

She hugged me again, angrily wiping the tears from her cheek.

"Well then, anybody hungry?" She asked, determined to feed someone.

Charlie began telling his mother just how hungry he was. She chuckled and sent him to fetch some lettuce from the vegetable patch.

"Can I do anything, Mrs Weasley?" I asked. I loved watching her work. I was always just given meals on my travels. But this was different. It made the food look even better.

"Oh no dear, you're a guest" She said, shocked.

"No, I'd like to help! Want me to go and get the twins?" I asked brightly.

"Oh, if you think you can handle them dear!" She told me, I laughed happily then bounded up the stairs to fetch the twins first.

I was turning the corner when I saw a tall boy with bright red hair that was growing long past his ears.

"Oh hey, you must be Bill?" I said calmly trying to catch my breath from running up the stairs.

"Yeah, Lana, right?" He asked casually.

"Yep! Your Mum's making lunch. I'm getting the twins and Ron" I told him.

" Oh, cool! You get the twins, I'll get Ron and Percy?" he offered. I smiled and nodded.

I went into Fred and George's room to find the pair firing water balloons. The floor was soaked, as was there clothes.

They both stopped in horror and tears filled their eyes.

"Please don't tell Mum!" They said together.

"We're not meant to throw water in the house!" Fred said, looking very sad indeed.

I sat down on the bed and thought for a moment.

"I think I can work something out." I pondered again and then cast a drying charm on the room.

"I won't tell your mum, if you put Percy's diary back?" Lana asked, slyly.

"Deal!" I smiled happily and bustled in a drawer to get the diary.

They were about to leave when I hissed.

"Wait!" I peaked out of the door and watched Bill walk past,

carrying Ron and steering Percy who was complaining loudly that he had been reading a book.

"How can he be 7?" I muttered to myself.

Turning back to the boys I tiptoed outside and said:

"Go, go, go!" In army style, they rolled out of their room and into Percy's. They jumped in and put the diary on his bed then left again whilst giving each other high five's.

Laughing I took a hand each and led them back down the stairs to the crowded kitchen.

Mrs Weasley was dishing out heaps of pasta, whilst Bill was struggling with a screaming Ron.

"Oh, somebody go and get your father from his shed!" She finally snapped, sending Bill to go and get him.

Lana moved over to Ron, and tried waving a fork in front of him.

He waved his chubby fist and stopped crying. Smiling gleefully, he reached for the fork and said:

"Boom!" The table went deadly silent. Everyone apart from an unknowing baby Ginny and myself stared at the baby and then started laughing, well, everyone apart from Mrs. Weasley, who rushed to her son crying.

"What?" I asked Charlie as I sat back down. He had walked in moments earlier with his Father.

"His first word," He smiled. "Hey, you know what Percy's first word was?"

I shook my head grinning, whilst taking a bite of pasta.

"It was 'Mine'!" He told me. We both burst out laughing.

"Mum tried to take his picture book off him" He informed me, piling more pasta onto his plate.

"I don't know what mine was." I thought for a minute sadly. Charlie must have sensed my tone of voice because he put his arm around my shoulder again and told me with the straightest face imaginable,

"You can have mine if you want, it was crap!"

"Why, what was it?" I asked timidly.

"'Crap!'" He told me again. I burst out laughing. Knowing his work was done, Charlie withdrew his arm and then carried on eating.


	4. Goodbye and Hello!

Hey, this is a short chapter but its kind of important J thank you to keiragracex once again and Enjoy!

Charlie and Lana kept in touch during the last few days of summer.

Lana's owl, Icarus, had not had to fly this much in years.

They talked about anything and everything. Charlie often told Lana about the weird and wonderful daily happenings at the burrow.

Lana told Charlie more about her life where she currently was staying in France with the half-giant Madame Maxine. She had asked to learn some new charms such as cleaning and washing for future reference, and for any more meetings with Fred and George!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The days slowly whittled down to 31st August, Lana sat anxiously in her quarters writing to Charlie.

_Hey Charlie,_

_I can't believe we start Hogwarts tomorrow! I know I have been there before and it is sooo beautiful Charlie but that was only in summer and I was always confined to some place or another. This time it's for real! And there'll be so much freedom it's going to be awesome!_

_I am slightly worried though._

_Do you think I'm going to be picked on for being dumble's granddaughter? I hope not. I have a book on jinxes that I'm not afraid to use ;) mind you though, I doubt anyone would appreciate the headmasters granddaughter getting detention on her first day!,_

_Hope you and your family are okay, see you tomorrow!_

_Love Lana_

_Xoxoxox_

_P.s- Did I mention I'm really exited? Well. I am and you should be too!_

Reading back her letter, Lana sighed. God she sounded insane. But she couldn't be bothered to rewrite it so she attached it to Icarus's leg and walked him to the windowsill.

"Please hurry, I want it to get to him before he leaves tomorrow!" She said, sweetly. The handsome grey owl nibbled her ear affectionately and took out from the window.

Lana stood for a while watching the magnificent bird spread its wings and soar out of view. She went back to her desk and got out a book. She sat by the fire and read well into the night.

She was woken 4 hours later by a gentle hooting.

She jumped in fright and Icarus flew off and circled the room before landing elegantly on the desk.

"Thanks, boy." She whispered, tiredly. Picking up the letter opener she sliced the letter open and read it in a rush.

_Hey Lana,_

_Everything's fine here! Well, Mum's getting a bit emotional because me and Bill are leaving again. But apart from that we're fine. Well, Bill also got a whacking from mum a few hours ago 'cos he hadn't packed properly. But that was just funny!_

_And yes Lana I am exited, it's going to be amazing. You and me at Hogwarts. Its going to be our school by 4th year I promise you._

_And not just for you 'Miss Lana Elizabeth Dumbledore', you plonker! ;) ._

_And don't worry, no one will pick on you._

_I simply shall not let them !_

_Love Charlie_

_X_

Lana laughed at the enclosed picture of Charlie as a knight and tucked it back into the envelope. She placed the letter into her trunk and clambered into bed. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next day, Lana was woken at exactly 9 by her house elf, Nora.

The young elf had been bound to Lana after the death of her Nanny. This had been a great comfort to Lana who despised the travelling. So a familiar face was welcome.

The elf had brought her breakfast in bed and a balloon that said 'Good luck!' on it.

"Thank you, Nora!" Lana had laughed at her friend and insisted they ate together for the last time in a year.

At exactly 10, Lana was dressed, washed, packed and fed. But not necessarily in that order.

And at half past 10 she was sat in the drawing room nervously fiddling with her coat.

Soon she heard a familiar pop and Nora appeared in the hall.

Lana took her arm and in seconds she felt the off putting sensation of being squeezed through a really small hole. She tightly shut her eyes until it was over.

"WATCH IT!" a man shouted as he walked into Lana. She was in King's Cross Station.

"Muggles!" Lana muttered to herself. With great difficulty she heaved her Birchwood trunk around carefully, as to not wake Icarus and then wheeled it towards platform 9. She braced herself unnecessarily and ran at the pillar.

Pillar. Her father slumped against the pillar, the green light hitting his chest and the look of horror on his face as he fell.

She stumbled out of the wall and gazed at the platform. Not today. She could reflect on her parents deaths anyway but today was too important, Lana thought miserably.

She pushed through the mass of parents towards the shiny red train where she saw a mass of red haired people.

She saw Fred and George throwing stones, making them disappear before they hit anyone. She saw Percy trying to get them to stop and Ron staring at Ginny who was crying.

She rushed forewords to say hello and was crushed by one of Mrs. Weasley's hugs.

"Oh, dear, you will be good won't you, and safe, stay safe!" She cried.

"Mum!" Bill muttered as he appeared in the doorway.

"Pull yourself together!" He told her, picking up Lana's trunk.

"Oh, thank you!" She called after him as he disappeared again.

Then Charlie appeared at the window.

"Lana!" he smiled happily and rushed to the door.

"I got us a cabin!" He told her, taking Icarus's cage away.

"Well, I best be off then?" Lana said to Mrs. Weasley and gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.

"It was lovely seeing you, dear!" She cried as Lana appeared at the same window as Charlie.

"You too, Mrs. Weasley. I'll make sure Charlie writes!" Both women laughed.

But all to soon the train began chuffing and the Weasley blurred from view.

"Ready for this?" Charlie asked Lana proudly as they watched the city fade away.

"I'm ready for anything" she replied with a large grin on her face.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Around 40 minutes into the journey there was a knock on the door disturbing Lana and Charlie's discussion about the Appleby arrows latest game.

They slid the door open to find a girl and boy stood there looking very depressed.

"Hey, do you have any spare room in your carriage?" The girl asked, nervously.

"'Course we do" Lana smiled and sat back down allowing the pair inside.

"Are you okay now?" The boy asked the girl who was sniffling a bit.

"Yeah, I'll be fine" She smiled, warmly and looked at her feet.

"Why, what's wrong?" Charlie asked the boy, worried.

"Well, some of the people in the other compartment were making fun of her 'cause she's a metamorphmagus." he told them sombrely.

"Well, they're idiots, then! Being a metamorphmagus is an incredible talent and they're all just jealous." Lana said, warmly and smiled at the girl, who looked up smiling back.

"Yeah, I suppose they are- I'm Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks but please use my last name? I hate my first!" she told them and her murky brown hair changed bubblegum pink and her eyes went the lightest blue.

"Yeah, and I'm Noah Diggory." The boy added, before pulling a book out of his bag.

"Cool, I'm Charlie Weasley, and this is Lana Dumbledore." Charlie introduced them.


	5. Hello Indeed!

The hours ticked away as Lana, Charlie, Tonks and Noah sat talking excitedly about the school, the lessons and the teachers. They had also talked about their families, where Lana and Charlie had leant that tonks was related to the blacks but her mother was disowned when she married a Muggle-born.

They also found that Noah was from an old Wizarding family and had a little brother called Cedric. They only stopped talking to eat a wide variety of treats from the food trolley which Lana had insisted on buying.

After around 6 hours Tonks and Noah had finally reached the subject of Lana's Grandfather. Charlie had been trying to steer them away since noon but there was no stopping them now.

"What's he really like?" Tonks asked.

"I Dunno really" Lana mumbled.

"Come on! You must have spent some time with him!" Noah insisted.

"Well, he is very proper, and polite. He has a lot of secrets. He always tends to be angry with the ministry over, something… I think he's nothing like everyone thinks. If he was as kind as everyone said, he wouldn't have shipped me around the world for the last four years!" Lana moaned.

"Wow" Noah stared at his feet.

"Sorry, I bummed you out" Tonks said, biting her lip.

"Nah, I'm fine" Lana looked up and grinned.

"Hey, we'll probably be there soon" Charlie said, happily, while munching through a chocolate frog.

"Yeah, we should get our robes on" Noah inserted and stood up. Tonks also jumped up but hit her head on the luggage rack, slipped on a pumpkin pasty wrapper and fell against the door.

"Oh, not again!" Noah sighed, kneeling down next to her.

"What?" She snapped, her hair turning a violent shade of red.

" Tonks, this is the ninth time today!" He said exasperatedly.

"It won't be the last, either!" She said, her frown turning into a grin.

He smiled back and then raised his finger in the air.

"You know the drill." He joked, and then began waving his finger around.

Charlie and Lana laughed a little before pulling down the trunks.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The four had settled into silence as they sat watching the last glimpse of the sun disappear behind the Scottish hills.

Lana was nervously pulling imaginary fluff off her robes and Charlie trying to comb his hair with his fingers. Noah had his head in a book and Tonks was reading a witches magazine.

After another few minutes they felt the train slowing down and their stomachs churned anxiously.

"This is it, Charlie!" Lana whispered excitedly as they pulled into Hogsmeade station.

"We're in Hogsmeade, you can see it from the astronomy tower, but we're not allowed here until 3rd year!" she informed him as they left the compartment.

"Doesn't mean we won't go, though!" Charlie whispered mischievously as they jumped down onto the platform.

It was a cool night but not a cloud was insight to block the bright stars that shone on the students as they busted towards the carriages.

Lana craned her neck to see where the older pupils were heading but didn't follow. She knew enough that they had to arrive on the boats. Her gaze reached the carriages and then in front of them were the grotesque winged horses with a think back skin covering large bones and a long face. Their eyes were large, staring and pupil-less.

"Bloody hell, what are those?" Lana asked staring at the creatures.

"What?" Charlie asked distractedly.

"Never mind…come on" She mumbled, and followed Tonks and Noah through the mass of students. Soon Lana heard the unmistakable voice of an old friend.

"Hagrid!" she called out happily, rushing towards the half giant.

"Lana!" he laughed heartily and patted her on the back with dustbin lid sized hands.

"We'll talk later Hagrid?" She asked, as more 1st years joined their group.

"Course we will!" He boomed and chuckled again.

Lana turned back to the other three grinning from ear to ear. She had always liked Hagrid. He had always calmed her and protected her when she was sad; She avoided the suspicious gazes of the other first years and began to tell Tonks and Noah about Hagrid, as they both stared at him in awe.

Charlie, however had heard all about him from Bill.

"So, why can't he do magic?" Noah asked in a low tone, so the other first years didn't eaves drop.

"He was wrongly accused of opening the Chamber of Secrets when he was at school!" she whispered.

"FIRST YEARS, GET INTO FOURS AND FIND A BOAT" Hagrid called and the first years scuttled around frightened of the oversized man.

The four laughed and quickly found a boat with minimal amount of damage.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After a smooth sail across the black lake the group had seen their first glimpse of Hogwarts and were eager for more.

The boats pulled in, in the dimly lit dungeons and the five rocky boats were tied to the walkway.

Charlie was the first to jump out of the wobbly boat and then helped out a literally green Tonks and a giggling Lana. Noah was the last to get out and breathed a sigh of relief as his feet touched the ground.

They were the first in the queue as Hagrid walked through and empty archway calling for the first years to follow him.

They stared in amazement as they walked down a various number of corridors.

Lana could hear others behind them talking to portraits and whispering excitedly.

Eventually they came to a large empty room with stone stairs in the corner. Lana smiled sweetly and pointed upward to the open ceiling that showed an endless tower of moving stairs.

The rest of the first years followed their example and looked up. Tonks looked back down and promptly fell over.

She sat on her bottom looking up at the other three laughing her orange hair off.

"Argh, head rush!" She explained still laughing. Some of the other first years frowned and moved away slowly.

Lana laughed with her and pulled her up.

Suddenly a silence fell on the hall as a tall woman appeared at the foot of the stairs.

The woman had her hair in a tight bun and strong cheek bones. He face was strict.

"McGonagall" Lana muttered to the three who had sobered up and stood quietly next to her.

"Welcome first years." She said, her eyes surveying the tiny group, her eyes laying a second longer on Lana.

"If you will follow me , quietly!, we shall make our way to the sorting ceremony." She said sharply and peered through thin glasses at Charlie, Lana and Tonks, who were suppressing giggles. Noah, however, was stood straight back and appeared to be taking in every word.

"Bloody Hell!" Charlie panted after climbing the stairs to the entrance hall.

"We're going to get pretty fit if we have to walk those stairs everyday!" Noah inserted, raking a hand through his curly black hair.

"Hmmm, I like Quiditch players" Tonks giggled and her hair went back to bubblegum pink.

Lana laughed with her but it was quickly cut off by the large oak doors of the great hall opening onto a mass of students.

Looking down the long hall Lana felt as if there was only one person there at all.

Albus Dumbledore.


	6. The First Night

He's smiling! As if he's actually smiling!

Lana thought as they walked down the hall towards the Sorting Hat.

She heard Charlie rambling about how many people there were. She saw Tonks' hair suddenly turn very ordinary and she saw Noah stare in awe at the enchanted ceiling and floating candles.

"Do you reckon we'll get taught how to do that?" He asked, excitedly.

"Probably." Lana shrugged. She was still transfixed on Dumbledore, as he sat looking proudly out onto hall.

Lana snorted a little when she noticed his chair was inches higher than the other teachers.

'Just like you' she thought snidely.

They reached the front of the hall and Professor McGonagall held out her hands to stop the first years, who then filed into rows anxiously awaiting the sorting.

"When I call you name, you will come forwards, I will place the hat on your head. You will be sorted and then will join your new housemates on the house table." She told them.

"Appleby, Stacey" the first name was called out. A little blonde girls with glasses walked out looking very tearful. She sat on the stool.

Suddenly Lana felt an unwelcome presence in her mind.

"Good evening Lana" she heard in her head.

"Grandfather" she acknowledged stiffly.

"I trust you are well?" he asked politely.

"Yes, Madame Maxine tends to pity me. I wonder why?" she asked sarcastically.

"No need to take that tone Lana!" Dumbledore warned.

"What tone!" Lana thought angrily.

"I am here you know?" the voice said smugly.

"Oh really?" Lana asked sweetly and then pushed the presence out of her mind.

HAA!

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the sorting hat brought Lana's attention back to the hall. She noticed the first girl, Stacey , was now sat at the Ravenclaw table. The latest name was a boy called Adam Cleaves. He waddled over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down proudly. Then Noah's name was called out. He straightened his back and walked to the stool. He had barely sat down when the hat shouted out

'GRYFFINDOR' he grinned at Tonks, and walked to the table sitting next to Bill Weasley.

"Dumbledore, Lana" McGonagall called. The hall went deadly silent. Lana saw her Grandfather straighten up trying to hide his frustrated expression. Lana was very glad her mental defences were holding. She strode over to the stool hoping she didn't appear scared.

She perched onto the stool and felt the old and worn hat fall onto her head. It was strangely heavy.

' Miss Dumbledore, your mind isn't easy'

'Yours wouldn't be if you were being attacked either!' She protested silently.

'Hmm, you are brave enough. But a warrior needs help to guide them through. I shall leave you with a gift to give to the friend you trust the most. It shall protect them.' He told her.

'Okay…how do I use it?'

'Place it in their mind. You will figure out the rest' he said unhelpfully.

'Well, thanks anyways Godric' she said cheerfully.

'You are welcome child.'

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted and the table on the left erupted into cheers. She walked proudly past Charlie and Tonks and slid into the bench next to a very happy Noah.

They waited and watched as the numbers sped down until it was Tonks' turn to take to the seat. She approached the stool nervously and like Lana perched on the edge of the chair. The Hat was silent. Lana suspected they were conversing mentally. The hall watched and then the Hat shouted out

"Gryffindor!"

Tonks jumped off the stool, her hair flashing in rainbows and skipped down to the Gryffindor table. Lana and Noah held their breaths expecting another little fall but it never came.

"Congrats Tonks! Now all you have to do is skip everywhere and you won't trip up!" Teased Lana as Tonks sat opposite Noah.

She shushed them reproachfully but her grin gave her away. They turned back to the sorting as a weedy boy with white, blonde hair was waltzing to the Slytherin table.

"Phaaa Slytherin!" Tonks laughed, eyeing the boy as he swaggered to the table and plonked down already looking like he owned the school.

'Not if I have anything to do with it!' Lana thought bitterly.

"Weasley, Charlie" The three heard McGonagall call. They watched as Charlie left the last girl stood by herself and walked to the stool.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The Hat shouted.

Lana and Tonks whistled loudly and clapped high above their heads. Bill stood up looking immensely proud and Noah cringed but clapped anyway.

"You two are so embarrassing!" He hissed as they sat back down.

Tonks winked at him cheekily and patted Charlie on the back.

"Well done you four" Bill Weasley put in, unexpectedly.

"Thanks, brother" Charlie beamed and looked at his plate expectantly. But his eyes glazed over and he jumped in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Bill asked.

"Nothing, might be getting a headache" He waved off.

"Hang on" Lana told him and sat straighter so she could see her Granddad. His face was straight and dripped in determination.

"Charlie, do you trust me?" She asked, solemnly.

"Of course"

"Okay" She said and entered his mind.

What do I do? She thought miserably. How can I protect him from Dumbledore?

Suddenly Lana could see a glittering sword in the whiteness of the mind. She reached for it and picked it up. Then she was forced out of his mind by a bright light.

"Bloody hell, what was that?" Charlie asked blinking repeatedly.

"I can't tell you here" Lana whispered glancing at her Grandfather.

"Oh, okay" Charlie smiled at her and then gestured to the mass of food that had appeared on the tables.

Bill looked at the two suspiciously but shrugged it off and then dived into the feast.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The feast had lasted well into the night but finally Dumbledore waved his hands and the deserts vanished.

"It has been a long day for all of us, and tomorrow will seem even longer unless we all get a good nights sleep." The old man smiled kindly at the students who nodded their heads. The prefects stood up importantly and bean directing the first years around.

"Shish, could they be any more pompous?" Tonks muttered after being told off for dilly dallying around on the floor.

"I mean, it's not like I meant to fall over!" She insisted and wiped some dust off her robes.

After a long walk up seven flights of stairs they reached the Gryffindor common room.

"Girls up the stairs on the right, Boys same but on the right" The prefect said lazily, then plonking down by the fireplace.

"When are you going to tell us about after the sorting?" Noah frowned. Charlie and Tonks nodded, intrigued.

"Meet me here at midnight!" She hissed glancing around the room to make sure nobody was listening.

Bill was sat in the corner with his friends and the other first years had already fled up the stairs to find their new bedrooms.

The others nodded din agreement and Noah and Charlie left for their dormitory.

"Big day!" Tonks sighed running a hand through her aqua blue hair.

"Definitely" She agreed and together they climbed the spiral staircase to the girls dormitory.

They entered to find two other girls already sat on their beds gossiping.

The first girl was petite with a big smile and almond shaped eyes.

"Hi, I'm Elena Shepherd." She smiled at Lana and Tonks and carried on.

"This is Amie Waller, and you are?" She asked sweetly. Lana suspected this girl already knew.

"I'm Lana Dumbledore and this is Tonks!" she said jumping onto her bed.

"God, this room is so old-fashioned!" Tonks complained, eyeing the red and gold room.

"Well, I'm sure Amie and Elena wont mind if we redecorate!" Lana said sickly sweet.

"Of course not, in fact we were just saying how dull it was!" She told them excitedly, in a very high voice.

"Well then, please make your way to the edge of the room to avoid flying objects." Tonks said professionally. The girls scrambled off their beds and raced to the doorway.

Lana raised her hands and a whirlwind of items rushed into the air.

"Favourite colours?" Lana croaked.

"Pink"

"Blue"

"Purple"

"And green" Lana said to herself and slowly lowered her hands.

The room was completely transformed. The old arched windows had new blinds on and cushioned seats in front of them. The four beds were enlarged and covered in blankets and pillows. The floor wasn't bare wood but covered in a luxurious cream carpet, the walls were covered in pale gold paint but were mostly covered by poster and timetables. The heater in the middle of the room had a teapot on it with four beautiful china tea cups and four comfy armchairs in each of the requested colours surrounded it.

Tonks, Elena and Amie stared in wonder and rushed to hug Lana .

"That is so cool!"

"You, are amazing!"

"So much better!"

"It's fine! Just don't tell anyone and please remember to wash the cups after use!" Lana joked and flopped down on her bed.

"So..?" Amie spoke after a while in a small voice.

"What?" Tonks asked from her bed. She was huddle in and still had the curtains open.

"I was just wondering.. What's Dumbledore really like?" she asked timidly.

"Oh!" Tonks said.

"Lana? They want to know about your Grandfather. What should I tell them?" Tonks asked.

A very sleepy looking Lana appeared from her curtains looking confused.

"Huh?" She mumbled, wincing at the light coming form the heater.

"What time is it?" Lana asked.

"11.30" Amie replied.

"Oh… Well Dumbledore. I'm sure he will be very nice to you!" Lana said, and fell back onto her pillows.

"Oh…okay" Amie sighed and then rolled over.

At 11.55 tonks pulled Lana from her bed and they crept down the spiral staircase. Lana had her invisibility cloak tucked into her pyjamas and was stifling a yawn.

They waited in the common room till exactly midnight when Charlie and Noah stumbled into the common room laughing.

"Will you two shut up?" Tonks hissed.

They quickly stopped laughing and looked ready for business.

"You going to tell us then?" Charlie yawned.

"Not here!" Tonks said, exasperatedly.

"Alright, lead the way" Noah said to end the argument that was about to happen.

Lana pulled her cloak from her pyjamas. And Charlie stared.

"Is that it?" He asked softly.

She nodded and pulled it over them. They fitted under perfectly but Lana knew that soon Charlie and Noah would get to tall for the cloak.

Tonks gasped and whispered happily, "We're invisible!"

"No!" Noah mocked. She whacked him playfully and they set off into the cold castle.


	7. A tale or two!

hey guys, sorry these uploads are getting further apart but I've been waaay busy :L anyways, i was thinking i might try writing as many chapters as possible instead of 1 a week. so it might go down to a chapter every 1 or 2 weeks. sorry for the inconveniance :)

Enjoy! xxx

There were a few close calls with the four as they followed Lana through the castle. They had their first encounter with Peeves but Tonks had sent him away very skilfully by using a nifty little spell that sent Peeves through the floor.

"What? You're not the only one that's practised some magic!" Tonks smirked at their wide eyes.

"Word of advice mate, don't annoy either of those two!" Charlie whispered to Noah, who nodded.

Finally, they reached their destination.

"Where are we?" Tonks asked.

"This is the room of requirements, made by Helga hufflepuff herself!"

"No way!" Noah gasped.

"Every charm possible is on it, I checked myself!" She said.

"So, what happened earlier?"

"Well, at the sorting, the hat, Godric, told me that I had to protect my friends minds. He gave me an object to protect the friends I trusted the most. It was the sword of Gryffindor. This was particularly useful because I knew my Grandfather had been trying to enter my mind" Lana explained

"Legilimency?" Noah voiced.

Lana and Charlie nodded solemnly and Lana continued.

"Then at the feast, when Dumbledore realised he couldn't access my mind, he went for Charlie."

"So you gave Charlie the sword" Noah stated.

"The hat knew that was going to happen. I think he's already protected me. What about you Tonks?" Noah asked, as if everything was coming into place.

Tonks face screwed up in concentration.

"It'll probably be an object like the sword" Charlie suggested.

"I have it! Its like a tiara." Tonks grinned, triumphantly.

"Ravenclaw's lost diadem." Lana nodded.

"Me to! I have a locket." Noah added.

"But what about you, Lana?" Noah said. his eyes were still shut tight looking at his protection.

"Well, I was already taught Occlumency, but I'll have a look."

She closed her eyes and entered her mind. Imagining a room full of chests she glided through her mind. The chest were locked and full of her sorted memories. She wandered around for a while until she came to a table in the middle of the room. There on the table was the b nbwarriors wand.

She pulled out into reality to find Tonks, Charlie and Noah looking anxious.

"Well?"

"It's my .. Wand" She said surprised.

"That's odd." Noah said, suspiciously.

Lana figured she knew she had yet to tell them about the wand.

They would probably find out tomorrow.

Pulling the invisibility cloak back, she knew something was wrong but couldn't bring herself to on they made their way back to Gryffindor tower, ready for a few hours sleep before breakfast.

…...

The next morning, Lana was woken by a very loud thump, Tonks had fallen out of bed.

"Ouch!" she moaned.

Lana opened her bleary eyes and peered around the room. The quarters were divided up. Each girl had they're own quarter. Tonks' was bright pink, Elena's was a sky blue with cream infused and Amie's was light purple. The colours came into focus and Lana could see the other two had already left.

Tonks pulled on the duvet covers in the attempt to hall herself up but only succeeded in pulling the duvet on top of her. She sat for a minute before mumbling:

"Bugger!"

Lana climbed out of bed and found a freshly ironed Hogwarts uniform. After some minor charms and adjustments to the clothes she got changed. she pulled her dark brown hair into middle parting and clipped her fringe back. Her large green eyes shone on her pale face and sat on large bags.

"Bugger indeed." Lana muttered back and pulled out her wand to do some concealing charms.

"Holy crap, your wand's a bit fancy, isn't it!" Tonks called out as she pulled her robes on.

"I might as well tell you first." Lana said.

"Well you better hurry up. Breakfast is nearly over." Tonks told her, as she looked in the mirror before deciding on pink hair that was shoulder length and choppy.

"I know! I'll give you my memory of the day and you can watch it when you get a chance" Lana told her and quickly passed the memory to her.

"I put it in a trunk next to the bust wearing the diadem." She said, grabbing her bag. The pair left the dormitory and descended into the common room.

They were met at the foot of the stairs by Noah and Charlie.

"You look nice." Charlie told Lana with a slight pink tinge to his ears.

"Thank you!" She beamed back.

"We were about to come and get you, you missed timetables and breakfast." Noah informed them and then presented a stack of toast.

Charlie promptly took one off the top and took a bite.

"McGonagall was furious, said she had never known two pupils new to the school to not show up on the first day!" Charlie told them through the toast.

"hey! I'm not new!" Lana said.

Soon the pile of toast had vanished and Noah wiped the grease from his hands before reaching into his pocket and pulling out their timetables.

Lana looked at the days lessons: Potions, transfiguration, herbology, history of magic and finally charms.

"Boring!" Lana droned out as they fled down the stairs to the dungeons.

"Snape hates it when your late!" Bill had told them.

"Pffffft, men!" Lana and Tonks giggled as they joined the end of the queue. The rest of the class consisted of Elena, Amie, the two other Gryffindor boys: Max Taylor and Art Bones. The others in the class were the Slytherins.

Suddenly the door at the front opened and the Slytherins swaggered in. The small blonde boy from the sorting took his place at the back of the class. Lana, Charlie, Tonks and Noah sat on the opposite side at the back. The other 11 first years filled the other seats and Snape appeared at the front desk.

He glared at each pupil individually before resting his eyes on Lana.

"If I catch anyone messing around in my class they will be out of Hogwarts before they can say Anything! I do not care for fame. Or those who abuse that privilege" He said coldly, directing his words towards Lana and Charlie. He then turned to the blackboard and began writing down instructions.

As soon as his back was turned Lana saluted to him. Tonks had to stuff her fist into her mouth to stop herself form laughing. With a swish of his cloak Snape had turned back around.

"Is there a problem, Miss Tonks?" He asked, stiffly.

Tonks took her fist out of her mouth and carelessly wiped it on her sleeve.

"No sir!" she said cheerfully.

"Good. I wouldn't want to have to move you on your first day now. Would I?"

"No sir!" She said again biting her cheeks.

"Perhaps it is being sat next to the young Miss Dumbledore that is such a problem. Star stuck?" He asked, viciously. The other Slytherins sneered in their direction and Lana coughed.

"Actually sir, I think Tonks is laughing at your exceptionally pathetic attempt to enter my mind just now" Lana said, coldly.

"However, if you feel my presence in this room will disrupt the learning any more than having you as a teacher, please feel free to ask me to leave and never come back because, believe me… I would do a much better job at teaching myself than you would." She finished, sweetly.

"I don't know what your talking about, Miss Dumbledore," he spat out "But you can see me after class!".

He turned around again to finish writing down the instructions.

"Bloody hell, Lana!"

"You go girl!"

"Whoa!"

Lana shushed them and began copying up the notes off the board.

It was going to be a long hour.

…...

At precisely 10 O'clock the bell rang through the school and echoed through the gloomy corridors of the dungeons.

Most of the class raced out of the furious teachers dark classroom. The Slytherins hung around a little to nosy into Snape's shouting match with Lana. However Snape ushered them from the classroom. Soon only Lana, Noah, Tonks and Charlie remained.

"I did not ask for your friends to remain behind." Snape sneered.

" S'alright sir, we volunteered." Charlie said angrily, glaring at the hook nosed professor.

Tonks and Noah nodded smugly and winked at Lana, who had to stifle her laughter.

"Anyway…" Lana prompted after a minute of evil looks. "So I'm thinking I either go straight to the ministry about the unprovoked violation of a Hogwarts student by a Hogwarts professor! Or we could stay here and discuss what we can do to end your pathetic favouritism of your Death Eater friends children?" Lana asked, viciously.

Snape's face contorted with rage and he flushed red.

"It is not illegal to perform Legilimency, Miss Dumbledore" He informed her, with an evil sneer and pure hatred in his eyes.

"No, it's not. But I'm sure we can make a case" Noah inputted, happily.

"I think we need to pay your Grandfather a visit, Miss Dumbledore." He finally said, looking very agitated and distressed.

"Oh joy!" Lana muttered sarcastically.

"But sir, We're already late for transfiguration!" Noah said, outraged.

"Very well, tonight straight after 5th period." He grunted, quickly sending them out of his obliged and hurriedly walked along the potions corridor, past the 1st year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws who were looking very nervous indeed.

They raced up the grand staircase to the ground floor where the transfiguration department was.

They reached the classroom doors and Noah knocked, shyly. Lana and Tonks rolled their eyes and opened the doors. They crept in quietly and glanced around the room for professor McGonagall. When she didn't appear Charlie and Noah let out a breath of relief and plonked down. Tonks stayed stood, looking suspiciously at the sniggering class who had their heads in 'Beginners guide to transfiguration'.

Lana quickly cast her eyes over the room once more before realising there was an unmoving tabby cat with markings around its eyes. It barely took Lana second to work it out. Striding over to the desk she began to speak.

"Sorry we're late, professor, our esteemed potions professor kept us back."

The cat stared at her and then McGonagall rose up from the space the cat used to fill.

"I hope you don't make being late a habit miss Dumbledore!" she said peering down at the small girl.

"That depends, professor," she mumbled, walking over to the desk and pulling her book out.

"On whether I remember to buy an alarm clock. I don't see the point in conjuring one." She rambled to herself. The class looked up, incredulously.

"You think after less than half a day of being taught magic, you can conjure at will!" McGonagall asked, disbelieved.

"Well, yeah" Lana frowned.

"Very well then , show the class your expertise, Miss Dumbledore!" The woman stated, taking a seat.

Lana considered this for a moment, and then shrugged. She walked over to Charlie to borrow his wand. She couldn't risk Dumbledore finding out about her wand yet.

Holding the wand up she waved it in an intricate pattern and then an alarm clock began to weave out of the air.

When it was finished, Lana was left with a beautiful pale gold alarm clock with ornate flowers painted on the emerald green hands. Lana caught it out of the air and handed it to McGonagall.

"You're welcome." she muttered and sat back down.

"Yes…." the teacher replied, tossing the small clock in her hands.

Lana could see Tonks and Charlie grinning, and Noah looking very much in awe. But she had a small feeling she had just caused something very bad.

Something she wouldn't be able to prevent.

soooo, stories beginning to form now... eh? :) well, there's only one way to find out..REVIEW, you know you want to! ;)

Your writer, hannah.

p.s thanks to the best beta - keiragracex :)

p.p.s- please review with a suggestion for the defense teacher's name 3


	8. A Little Chat

Hello :) sorry this chapter is so short, but I promise on all the new chapters I'm trying to write over 2000 words ;) Also, I want to thank those of you who have read this far! much love

Enjoy!

The lesson went on and on and on. Reading a text book Lana had known off by heart since she was seven was a tad boring. But she took the opportunity to re-enforce her mind's shields for later that night.

She glanced to the other side of the room where Charlie and Noah were whispering hurriedly. Noah looked up and caught Lana's eye. She winked and looked back down at her book.

Meanwhile, Tonks had decided reading the chapter could wait another day and took the time to watch Lana's memory of her trip to Ollivander's.

After a while the memory ended and Tonks was thrown back into the lesson.

"I watched it!" she whispered to Lana excitedly.

"I can't believe it actually exists!" Tonks' eyes were full of joy. She smiled happily.

"Yeah, I'll send it to Charlie and Noah now!" Lana said, transmitting the memory.

The girls watched as Noah and Charlie's eyes glazed over.

"Noah's going to have such fun over this!" Tonks told Lana.

"Why?"

"'cause, he likes projects that he can work on and solve" Tonks said, doodling on her parchment. "That's why he likes all those Muggle detective books."

"Oh." Lana said, returning to her work.

At the end of the lesson, the four walked out of transfiguration and into the courtyard, sitting down on a stone bench.

"I cant believe you are the master of the warriors wand!" Charlie exclaimed.

"Mistress!" Tonks corrected him. He shrugged.

"Let's have a look then." Noah ordered, impatiently.

Lana produced the wand form her robes and handed it to Noah.

"Do you think we could work out these runes?"

"Well, Ollivander said I would understand them in time." She told him. He looked thoughtful.

"It wouldn't hurt to try something, though?" Tonks asked.

"I honestly don't know, Tonks, sometimes its better not to know the future." Charlie said, solemnly.

"My uncle saw the Grim, he knew he was gonna die. We was so upset after he saw it!"

Lana scoffed but Noah and Tonks paled.

"well, I agree with tonks. We can take out some books from the Library at lunch." She concluded, ending the matter.

"Yeah, let's go to Herbology." Tonks said happily, skipping off with her cloak billowing behind her.

…...

The rest of the day passed by smoothly but by fifth period, their late night was catching up with them and the tiny Professor Flitwick could do nothing to prevent them from dropping off every five minutes.

With their Ancient Runes books tucked in their bags they ran back up to the Gryffindor tower. They had to dump them before their meeting with Snape.

By the time they reached the stone Gargoyle outside Dumbledore's office, all four were panting and clutching their sides.

"Crap!" Wheezed Noah "What's the password?"

"Um… Chocolate frogs?" Lana asked the gargoyle. It sprung to life and twisted to show the small spiral staircase.

"How did you guess?" Charlie asked, laughing.

"Well, the password is always a sweet or chocolate and he has his own chocolate frog card." Lana concluded.

They climbed the steep stairs and came to the large wooden door.

From inside they heard voices.

"A clock, Albus, she conjured a whole clock!" They heard McGonagall's voice say.

"And her Occlumency is at a level I wouldn't expect a department of mysteries employee to have." Snape added, bitterly. "I couldn't even enter her little friends minds, she must be protecting them too!"

Lana's eyes narrowed as she peaked into the room.

"I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation for all this." Lana heard her grandfather say quickly.

"That's not just it, though, Albus, she didn't even use her own wand, either she is extremely powerful or she has some sort of connection with Mr Weasley!"

Lana had enough. She waltzed into the room.

"Well, Professors, I like to think it's a bit of both!" Lana said, cheerfully. The three professors stared as the 3 others followed Lana inside, grinning uncontrollably.

…...

"Ah, Lana, are you settling in?" Albus asked his Granddaughter.

"Better than ever before, maybe because I'm not isolated, lonely and training all the time." Lana said, sounding sickly sweet.

"Oops...was that meant to be a secret?" she asked.

"Stop playing stupid, Lana, you know why you're here!" he looked into her large green eyes. They flashed at him dangerously.

"You should have been in Slytherin." Snape muttered under his breath.

"Missing what you could have had?" Lana teased.

Snape glared at her.

"What is the meaning of this, Albus?" McGonagall asked, outraged.

"Well, Minerva," he began.

"Save it, Dumbles," Lana hissed. She was in no mood for his lies.

"Professor McGonagall, the reason I can conjure a clock is because I have had a special talent for conjuring since the night my parents died." Lana lied easily.

"I was so scared of the Death Eaters, I did accidental magic and made myself a sort of safe room. When my Grandfather found me, he realised my talent and helped me train in it." She told them, sadly. Tonks had to bite her lip to stop a smile and Albus had caught on quickly. He masked his confusion and nodded to Lana's story.

"Indeed"

"That does not answer the question of how she can have such a strong occluments force, and enough to protect her friends also!" Snape said, stiffly.

"I can assure you, I am not giving my friends my mind, Professor! They can take care of themselves."

"However, if you ever attempt to enter our minds again, you will find yourself on the wrong end of a particularly nasty curse."

"You can't just threaten a teacher like that, sill girl. I don't care if you are a Dumbledore!" Snape hissed.

"Severus!" Albus warned his colleague. The greasy haired man backed away from the four and remained quiet.

"Well, now that's all sorted, can we go, because I am ve-ery tired." Tonks stated, her hair turning black and greasy like Snape's and a long nose grew from her own.

"You look like Pinocchio!" Lana squealed happily. Snape's face went bright red and he looked as if he was about to hit Tonks. He moved forwards angrily but was blown back by a gust of wind.

"Make that physical as well as mental." Lana smiled sweetly. Noah put his arm around a very scared Tonks and walked out.

"Wait one moment please, Lana?" Dumbledore asked, kindly.

She sighed and turned back around to the old man. His eyes were twinkling and watching her intently.

"Can you please show me your wand?" He asked, his voice sounding pleasant. His head was bowed slightly and his lips curved into a smirk.

"Certainly, Professor!" She said, through gritted teeth.

Slowly she pulled the beautiful pale wand from her school robes and presented it to the three Professor's.

"Oh my!" McGonagall gasped. Snape looked incredulous and Dumbledore sighed.

"Thank you, Lana, good evening!" With that, Lana left as quickly as possible.

…...

Charlie and Lana rushed out the office and down the corridor to find Tonks and Noah. They found them. At the foot of the stairs, they saw a crying Tonks and a bright red Noah, with his arm around her.

Lana immediately swapped places with Noah and comforted Tonks.

"I can't control it! Now he's gonna hate us even more because my stupid ability to make myself look stupid!" She sobbed.

"Oh, honey, it's okay, your skills are amazing, you just need more control. We'll all help you get it. We promise!" She said, stroking her hair.

Soon Tonks looked her usual self again and was laughing about how outraged Snape had looked.

"Come on then, I suppose we'd better get our homework done!" Noah sighed.

"I still cant believe we got homework on the first day!" Tonks complained.

"I know, well, come on then! Race you to the common room!" Lana laughed, jumping off the stairs.

They all jumped up too and fled up the stairs laughing hysterically. They had reached the fifth floor when Lana glanced back. She was in lead, Charlie was behind her and Tonks was last, being after Noah.

Then in a split second she saw Tonks trip and stumble. Her foot couldn't find a surface to hold onto. Her head smashed into the stairs and blood mingled with her pink hair. She rolled down the stairs crying out. And then landed in a heap on he fourth floor landing.

Lana screamed and turned around. Charlie and Noah followed her gaze and Noah shouted out:

"TONKS!"

OMG! is she okay?... well wait for the next chapter to find out. but hey! for now, why don't you review and tell me what you think! XD

Hannah x


	9. Tea and Sympathy!

Noah sped past Charlie and Lana and jumped the last three steps.

He pulled her body over and started pulling her legs and arms around.

"What are you doing?" Lana asked panicking

"The recovery position, it's some sort of Muggle procedure, I don't know if it will work, I'm just trying!" Noah finished, breathlessly.

"Okay, um, the hospital wing is on the third floor. We should take her there!" Charlie told them pulling his cloak off and folding it into a pillow.

"Okay." Lana said and pulled out her glittering wand.

She took a deep breath and conjured a stretcher.

They cautiously pulled the unconscious girl onto the stretcher and walked with her to the hospital wing. Lana blinked away tears as Noah held Tonks limp hand, muttering words to her.

Quickly, the group arrived at the hospital wing, Charlie rushed ahead to find the Matron.

"What on Earth has happened?" the matron said, scandalized as she bustled out of her office.

They placed Tonks delicately onto one of the crisp white beds. The blood leaked onto the sheets.

"She fell down the stairs!" They told her, as the woman examined Tonks' bleeding head.

"She'll be fine, don't worry. Nothing I can't sort out" She smiled warmly at the worried children, who simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now, off you pop! I'm sure Minerva - Professor McGonagall will not appreciate you being late again tomorrow Miss Dumbledore!" She said, with a raised eyebrow.

Lana and Noah were about to protest, but she quickly cut in.

"When will she be out?" Lana asked, biting her lip.

"If she co-operates, tomorrow." Madam Pompfrey smiled again, then shoed them form the hospital wing.

"What a day!" Charlie huffed, as they slowly climbed the stairs to the seventh floor.

"Tell me about it!" Lana agreed and pulled out her wand again.

"Hey, did either of you notice something strange earlier?" She asked, whilst examining her wand.

"Like what?" Charlie asked.

"Well, it may have been the light … But I'm sure my wand was sort of ... Glittering just then!" She wondered, running her fingers over the jewels encrusted into the wand handle.

"Look, I'll read those books later, but can you just leave it for now!" Noah complained angrily, then stomped off up the stairs.

"oh poo." Lana said sadly, watching the dark haired boy disappear up the stairs.

"Urgh; One day we've been here, and so far we've fallen out with the headmaster, attacked the potions master, ended up in the hospital wing and fallen out with Noah!" Charlie groaned and they continued the long trek up to the common room.

. . . . . . . . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .

Lana had a very hard time sleeping that night. She twisted and turned in her white sheets until she couldn't stay there any longer. Slowly she pulled her legs out of the sheets and swung them off the bed. Slipping her feet into her slippers she tiptoed off the bed and cast a quick silencing charm on the heater.

"A nice cuppa tea!" She muttered to herself as the steam from the kettle swirled into the air.

"Hi Lana!" Lana turned to find Amie stood behind her smiling sadly.

"Oh, hey Amie" she smiled back and gestured to a seat.

"Tea?"

"Please." The girl sat in the purple chair and pulled her dressing gown tight.

Lana finished making the tea and handed her the cup. She noticed her hands were shaking slightly.

"Are you okay Amie?" she asked kindly.

"No, I'm cold and I miss my parents." She said sadly, her round grey eyes glazed with tears.

"It's okay, honey, I'm sure your parents miss you too! Why don't you write to them?" She smiled, comfortingly.

"I don't have an owl!" She cried, her tea spilling onto her nightgown.

"You can borrow Icarus whenever you like!" She told Amie, pouring some more tea.

"Really?" Amie gasped, her eyes lighting up.

Lana nodded warmly and pulled out her wand. She vanished the spilt tea and paced a heating charm on Amie's bed.

"There? Everything gets better once you get used to it" Lana soothed and then took a sip from her tea.

"Was it, horrible….loosing your parents?" Amie asked, shyly.

"Yeah, it was… so be glad yours are home and safe!" Lana laughed it off and said goodnight before climbing into bed, even more confused than before.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The grey sky whitened as the sun rose and woke Lana from her slumber. She rolled out of bed to find the room empty once again. She pulled the heavy duvet off her small frame and saw a flash of white. Leaning over the bed Lana saw a small piece of paper floating to the floor.

It read- 'thanks for the tea and sympathy x'

Underneath the beautiful handwriting was a drawing of the heater with Tonks, Lana, Amie and Elena sat around it. Like they had done on the first night.

Smiling to herself, Lana conjured a baroque style golden frame and hung it on the back of the door.

She dressed quickly, threw her bag over her shoulder and left for breakfast.

Reaching the bottom of the grand stairs, Lana hummed to herself and entered the hall. It was silent. Everyone stared as Lana entered the hall and glanced between herself and the potions master. The head of Slytherin pointedly glared at Lana and sipped his pumpkin juice with a bitter expression.

Shrugging Lana spotted Noah, and skipped over to the end of the Gryffindor table. She smiled at Noah apologetically and he moved up to let her sit back.

"Sorry about last night, Noah, I should have been more worried about Tonks"

"It's fine, so is she. I visited her this morning. She's coming to breakfast in a moment." He grinned and then opened his bag and pulled out a book.

"So, this is breakfast at Hogwarts, eh?" Lana stated, looking up and down the platter covered table.

"And to think, all you brought Tonks and I yesterday was toast!" She said dramatically, raising a hand to her heart.

"Yeah, we're sorry! Next time you sleep in we'll bring you a pocket full of scrambled eggs." Charlie told them, as he joined them at the table.

"Naawr, your so sweet!" Lana beamed at him.

Suddenly Tonks appeared next to them, beaming.

"Yeah, I love eggs." She agreed, and promptly piled several heaps of egg onto her plate.

"Bloody hell!" Charlie gasped and looked down at his pitiful amount of egg.

He reached for the egg bowl but it was moved by an angry, pig nosed seventh year.

"Quit hogging!" she huffed, and turned back to her friends.

Noah looked incredulous and Charlie looked wistfully at Tonks' eggs.

"So much fuss over eggs!" Lana laughed, handing her own egg covered plate to Charlie

He smiled gratefully, and gobbled his breakfast up quickly.

"So, how are you?" Lana asked Tonks, finally.

"M'good!" She said, halfway through her food.

"Madam Pompfrey fixed me right up. Got a bit of a headache, but those blasted potions helped a lot!" she told them, making a face as she talked about the disgusting potions.

"Not as bad as double potions is going to be after lunch" Lana grinned, at her and bit into a croissant.

"Oooh! Deffo." Tonks agreed, polishing off her eggs with a sausage.

"Before that, we have Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Astronomy theory class." Noah read out form his neat timetable.

"Whoopee!" Tonks said, happily. " I love defence, I can't wait to learn how to duel."

"Really, it's easy. We can go to the come and go room later if you want to get a head start?" Lana asked as she sorted her books out.

"Yeah!" She replied, then swayed peacefully.

The boys and Lana stared at her and burst out laughing.

"You sure are an odd one, Dora" Noah winked at the metamorphmagus whose hair changed rapidly form bubblegum pink to scarlet red.

"You look like Charlie's twin sister!" Lana smiled and Tonks' hair suddenly went very brown.

"Hey, what's wrong with being a red head?" Charlie asked, as they got up and left the hall.

"Nothing…nothing at all!" Tonks winked at Lana, and hurried ahead of Charlie to hide her grin.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Defence flew by as the Professor Darwin, an ex Auror, explained the importance of defence after the difficult war.

He talked for the whole hour about his various captures of dark wizards. Though Lana and Noah knew for a fact that they were actually the works of Alastor Moody. Lana's defence tutor himself.

However they were still thrilling tales and the lesson ended much to quickly. They left the class with homework to read the first chapter of their defence books.

"Pffffft, we could have done that in class!" Charlie huffed.

"Chill dude!" Tonks told him as they made their way to Herbology.

"I'm fine thanks." He told her bitterly and they followed the Hufflepuff's of their Herbology class into the greenhouse.

Tonks shrugged and skipped over to the desk.

"Is she high or something?" Noah moaned.

Lana laughed at him and then skipped after Tonks.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After Herbology, the four made their way to the Astronomy Tower after picking up their reference books and star charts from their dorms.

They were welcomed by the serious Professor Sinistra who began to describe the practical they would be doing on Friday night.

"Fun, fun, fun!" Lana muttered, but noted that Tonks was jotting down with raised attention levels.

The hour passed and lunch rolled into view as the four stopped off at the great hall to grab a bite to eat.

…...

Between the threat of Dumbledore and Snape, homework and teaching the others occlumency and duelling, Lana was stretched to breaking but she knew it would be worth it.

Well, I can always skip lunch' Lana thought to herself as they sat in the Gryffindor common room drawing up their timetables.

Suddenly the bell rang through the tower and the four jumped up, alarmed.

"Bugger!" Charlie shouted and they legged it down the stairs to potions.

Five minutes later they had gotten down the seven large flights of stairs and thought the small gloomy corridors of the dungeons.

They burst though the potions room door and sat down quickly and silently.

"Glad you could join us, Dumbles!" The blonde Slytherin from the sorting sneered across the classroom.

"I'm not!… sorry I didn't catch your name.. sneeze ball was it?" Lana asked cheerfully.

"You think your so funny, well you look it hanging around with blood traitors and freaks!" He hissed, eyeing Tonks distastefully.

Lana boiled with anger and Tonks looked down sorrowfully. When she looked up she was the spitting image of the boy. She swaggered over to him.

"You think your so scary, well you look it hanging around with Death Eaters!" Tonks said, angrily prodding the nearest chunk of fat that the boy paraded as his bodyguard.

"You filthy-" he was cut off by a sly voice from the corner.

"Sir, Tonks attacked me sir!" the boy yelped pointing at Tonks' wand that was sticking out of her robes.

Noah, Charlie and Lana all spoke at once along with the rest of the Gryffindor's.

"Did not!"

"LIAR!"

"-total rubbish!"

"codswallop!"

"PIGFACED GIT!"

The rest quickly shut up at Noah's outburst.

"Sheesh, dude!" Lana sighed. Noah looked very alarmed and surprised and quickly sat down embarrassed.

"Sit down, Nott!" Snape spat angrily at the blonde haired boy.

"I'm all to familiar with the attacks of Miss Dumbledore and her friends!" he peered down at her, over his large nose.

Lana felt a prodding at her mental barriers and sighed once more.

"Not gonna happen sir." she shrugged at him and got out her potions book.

The greasy haired git ignored her and turned on Tonks.

"Miss Tonks, detention every Friday for a month for Impersonating and attacking Mr. Nott." The evil man sneered at the shrinking girl.

"I'll look forwards to it!" she said brightly, surprising all the Gryffindor's.

The potions professor stalked to the front of the room and left Tonks to return to her seat.

"Okay, it seems like everyone's getting to annoy Snape but me!" Charlie whined at the floor. It was true. The previous week it was Lana and also Amie for messing up her notes by spilling frogspawn on them. She was forbidden to copy anyone else's and she burst into tears the second they left the classroom.

This lesson, Elena had been docked points for passing notes to Tonks, and Noah had been docked points for calling Nott a 'pig faced git'. The two other Gryffindor boys had set a dung bomb off in the corridor before the lesson and they were also awarded detentions.

"Never before have I seen a group of such pathetic and insolent Gryffindor's. I bet your parents are turning in their graves!" he muttered evilly to Lana after an hour in class.

In seconds, the desk in front of Lana, Tonks, Charlie and Noah had upturned and flown at Snape. Luckily for Snape, Noah had raised his hand in fright and the table had stopped to a halt in front of his face.

The man regained composure and peered down at Noah who was trying to calm a furious Lana down with Charlie.

"Class dismissed!" he hissed and turned to his office.

"Lana, we have a problem!" Tonks fretted on their way back to the tower.

"s'up?" she asked, tiredly.

"Well, I think Snape thought that Noah's accidental magic was…real" she explained, anxiously.

"Well, that is a problem. And it can be solved very simply."

"How?" Noah asked.

"You learn to do wandless magic!" She smiled and disappeared up the stone steps to the girls dormitories.

"Women!" Noah muttered and stretched out on an armchair to read the ancient runes books.

Charlie nodded in agreement and found himself staring into the flickering flames of the fire, reflecting on how much his life had changed since he met Lana. How much he'd come out of his shell.


	10. A legend and a Trip out

heeey :) Hannah here! things are getting serious now eh?, well, read to find out and pleaase review ;) many thanks

Enjoy!

Soon the end of Autumn waved goodbye and a cold chill covered the school. Students were heaving their winter cloaks from their trunks and pleading to their parents for more scarves and gloves.

The first week of October passed and celebrated Tonks' freedom from Snape's detentions; and Lana

marked it by getting a detention with Snape.

The four were relaxing in the common room long after everybody else had gone to bed. Charlie was sprawled out on the couch, Noah was reading in front of the fire, Tonks was sitting in-between the two and practicing wand less magic and Lana was twirling her own wand in her hand and running her fingertips over the old markings.

After a little while, Noah reached forwards anxiously.

"I thinks I've found a rune" He said, biting his lip.

"Really?" Lana asked, crawling to the arm chair and leaning up.

"Hmm, I'm not sure but-" He pointed at the first mark on the warriors wand. "This one with the circles is a lot like friendship in all the other languages but it's only a guess. The lines weaved around them represent strength, but the diamond shapes inside the circles represent pain and suffering." he told them pointing and explaining from his book.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Charlie nodded.

"Yeah! Look there's four circle and the diamonds, we'll we've all suffered, haven't we?" Tonks said.

"yeah, cos I lost my parents, Charlie lost his favourite uncles, Tonks used to get bullied, and Noah?" Lana asked.

"Nope, nothing bad has ever happened to me." He told them honestly.

"Nothing?" Tonks asked, incredulously.

"Nothing, unless you count Cedric!" He grinned.

"Well, maybe they include the future as well" Lana wondered aloud.

"Well, there's something to look forwards to!" Noah yawned.

He was about to get up when a light flickered at the foot of the stairs.

"What the hell are you four still doing up?" Bill Weasley asked, angrily.

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"Bill!" Charlie stuttered, jumping to his feet. Lana stuffed her wand back into her pocket. Tonks dropped the parchment she had been wordlessly levitating and Noah tried to stuff the runes books into his shirt.

Bill stomped into the room, his long red hair tied up behind his neck.

"If you're up to anything stupid… I want to be a part of it!" He said, plainly.

"Oh, thank God, I thought you were going to tell mum!" Charlie sighed.

"So, what are you doing?" Bill asked, plonking down on the couch.

"well, we saw some runes in a book the other day and want to know what they are!" Lana lied, quickly as Bill hadn't learnt occlumency, he couldn't be trusted and as much as he hated to think it, Charlie knew she was right.

"Guys, you know your studying for a subject you're not going to even have the option of doing for another two years!" Bill said, lazily.

"Yeah, we know!" Noah said.

"Well…. Are you going to show me them or what?" Bill said, raising an eyebrow.

"Um... Okay" Noah quickly scribbled out the carving from memory and showed it to Bill.

"Well, that's the ancient symbol for bravery. It was used in Merlin's time. It's all about how you can suffer so much and still come out at the end with friends and love. Its all a big idea that love triumphs all." Lana snorted at the words.

"But what does that mean?" She asked.

"Well, I pretty much means that if you can love, you can always survive."

"What, like beat death?" Noah asked, sceptically.

Bill shrugged.

"The symbol is very rare. What book was it in? I heard that it has only ever been officially seen on four other items." He told them tracing the symbol.

"What items?" Tonks asked, intrigued.

"The sword of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw's diadem ,Helga Hufflepuff's goblet and Salazar Slytherin's locket. And none off those item have been seen in years!" He laughed.

"So they're the only officially recorded but what about unofficially?" Noah asked, with his thinking face on.

"Well-" Bill started, looking as if he was trying to remember something from long ago.

"Legend has it that it was on Merlin's wand, or the 'warriors wand'. its told that the holder of the wand must make the ultimate sacrifice for the one they love. Hence the idea of bravery and love triumphing" He finished mysteriously.

Lana, Tonks, Noah and Charlie were frozen were they sat.

"Okay" Lana said, in an unnaturally high voice.

"Yeah" Tonks agreed.

"Well"

"Night" The boys said, then left staring at Lana.

"Okay then, night you two!" Bill said to the girls, then followed Charlie and Noah up the stairs.

"Lana's getting a boyfriend!" Tonks sang, suddenly.

"What?" Lana asked dumbly.

"Didn't you listen? The one you love!" Tonks repeated, rolling her eyes.

"Oh yeah…. We need some sleep!" Lana said and they left the cooling room for the confines of their warm beds. But Lana knew she wouldn't be getting a lot of sleep, and so did Tonks.

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The next morning the four were silent for the most part as they ate their breakfast. The hall was unaware of the anxiousness the group were feeling, although many Gryffindor's could tell there was something wrong as Tonks' hair was in a dull brown ponytail instead of her usual pinks locks.

Lana perched on her seat, biting her lip as she went over the events of the previous night.

Why me? She thought dully as she watched happy students pour into the hall.

'Why can't I just be normal'

She looked toward Charlie who wasn't eating either rather, staring at his plate anxiously.

Then she turned to Noah, who was glaring up at the teachers table.

"Snape trying to break into your mind?" she asked.

"No, Dumbledore is. He knows something's up." He told her, gaining Tonks and Charlie's attention.

"How dare he!" Tonks growled, joining in on the conversation.

"Yeah, he's gone now. I'd keep on guard for the rest of the day though" Noah warned, turning back to the table.

But Lana continued to glare at the blue eyed headmaster as he looked around at his students.

The tall man stood letting his long silver beard fall to beyond his knees. He whispered to Professor McGonagall and then swept down the length of the hall until he reached Lana. The hall became silent as the man approached his granddaughter.

He bent down towards the small girl and whispered into her ear. She gave a small nod and the man left the hall leaving a very talkative hall behind him.

The dark haired girl leaned into the table and said with a grin to her three friends.

"I have a meeting with the headmaster."

Then she got up and left the hall, following in the footsteps of her grandfather.

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Looking around the large office, Lana sighed. This wasn't how she'd intended her first year at Hogwarts to start. She looked at the mass of books lining the walls in awe, while wondering why she couldn't be a normal child, not the owner of some stupid wand.

"You still can be." Albus Dumbledore stated, simply, appearing at the door.

"I didn't see you there" she said lamely watching the man sit in front of her.

"I know…you can break the bond, if you want Lana, but only if you want." He sighed gravely.

"Why and how?" she peered at him, suspiciously.

"You know full well how to, my dear, and I'm sure you'll know why as well"

"I know, I just want to hear it from you!" she spat, angrily.

"You, are the chosen one, my dear, the last descendent of Merlin himself. You are the saviour of the Wizarding world!" he exclaimed. " But, you are just a little girl, you are so much like your mother." he said, sadly.

"Then I'd make a heck of a fine soldier!" she stated, proudly.

"She was a fool! She didn't listen to me and didn't trust me. Now where is she?" he retorted angrily.

Lana rose to her feet. Her ballet shoes, slipping beneath her black robes and her pale face contorted with rage.

"Never insult my mother again!" she growled at him, raising her wand.

"Calm down, my dear, I apologise. That was uncalled for. But I worry about you. You have to understand. I had you trained in every form of magic possible. But even then I had my doubts. And now you have started school. And I know. You can't be the chosen one. You're just a child. And I'll do all I can to protect you." he said, boldly as if his actions were brave and noble.

"You arrogant old man! You knew this all along and you never thought to tell me!" she shouted. "you been raising me like a lamb to the slaughter. Well, it's not in your hands anymore. It's my life and I swear to god if you EVER attack me or my friends again I will leave this school forever!" she hissed and left the classroom leaving a very confused old man behind her. But then she swung around the door again.

"Oh, and by the way, honey. You better call of the dogs 'cause us cats won't stand for it any more!" she said, sweetly.

Then she turned and left. Albus understood the phrase instantly. He quickly flooed Severus.

"What is it, Albus?" the man said tiredly, rubbing his temples.

"stop the occulmency. She has chosen her path. All we can do now is try to protect her from the world." he sighed, sadly, and left the fireplace.

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As October wore on the group were enjoying the experience of being able to walk around without the worry of their minds being broken into.

But the cool front moved in further and Lana had taken to conjuring fire to warm their hands at break. That was until they were caught by Snape and had points docked for using magic in the corridors.

Homework piled up further as they moved further into their magical education. Lana was getting very tired or repeating the work and threw her essay down on the floor.

"Been there, done that!" she huffed and folded her arms.

"Well, you can do mine then!" Tonks smiled, sweetly, chucking her potions essay to the dark haired girl and putting her feet on Noah.

"Ewe, thanks, Dora!" Noah moaned, looking at her feet disgustedly. She growled and lunged forwards to tickle his sides. "Ha! Take that, grumps!" she laughed and chased him up the stairs, her hair shining bright yellow.

Charlie winked at Lana who burst out laughing. She then stretched and stood up.

"M'hungry!" she moaned tiredly.

"Well, you should have eaten dinner then!" Charlie said, reproachfully.

"Phaaa, come on Ray, we're going on a trip to the kitchens." she smiled. The boy got up and then looked very embarrassed.

"Hey, how do you know my middle name?"

"Magic!" she whispered in reply, then took off down the corridor, laughing heartily.

Charlie sped after Lana as she whizzed down the corridors. He almost lost her as she turned multiple corners. Finally they reached the portrait in front the kitchen and entered wheezing for breath.

"Mistress! Mistress has come to visit Nora!" the ecstatic house elf screeched with delight as Lana and Charlie entered the room.

"Nora!" Lana yelled happily and bent down to hug the little elf.

"Master dumbly-dore said you would visit Nora!" she told her happily leading them to some old ragged armchairs.

"Thanks Nora, this is Charlie Weasley by the way." she told him as they sat down.

"Greetings Master Weasley!" the elf beamed.

"Charlie!" he insisted.

They sat for little over an hour talking and eating the wonderful scones and teacakes that the elves had presented them with. Until finally they heard an owl hooting outside. They rushed to the windows and saw the dark skies.

"It's past curfew!" Charlie said anxiously.

"Shoot!" she moaned in reply, and they quickly said goodbye to the elves with the promise they would visit soon.

They raced through the castle towards Gryffindor Tower; where they hoped, nobody was still awake to notice their absence.

so? what'd you think? please review :) many thanks to my wonderful beta keiragracex and all my readers!

Hannah x


	11. Beaming Literally

**Hello dearest readers :) welcome to another chapter of My tale. Hope you enjoy it 3**

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><p>It had been a few weeks since the kitchen incident, and life had been fairly normal since. The four had managed to attend most lessons, without any accidents and that included any arguments with Snape. They had been training regularly in the room of requirements in occlumency, duelling and, in Tonks' sake, morphing.<p>

As October wore into November the school began talking excitedly about the Christmas holidays.

Lana became sullen and depressed when they heard Elena and Amie chatting in their dorm and even more so when she found out that Tonks and Noah were going home for the holidays. Charlie still hadn't heard back yet but she knew it was only a matter of time.

She quickly cast her sad feelings aside. She knew she would have to face the inevitable and talk to her grandfather about her arrangements but kept putting it off. She still had over a month to do so.

So she carried on as normal, feeling it was going to be her worst Christmas yet.

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Saturday morning came with a heavy rainfall. The pitter patter of the rain on the rooftop woke most of the tower. Some chose to stay in bed. Others dressed in warm jumpers and headed down to the common room where the fire roared invitingly in front of the couch.

Lana and tonks had opted to stay in bed although Amie and Elena had raced down to the common room where they were often found gossiping happily in the corner, or listening to the popular wizard band, 'Teenage trolls' .

After huddling with her duvet for around an hour, Lana finally drew her bed curtains and crawled over to her drawers to find some Muggle clothes as it was the weekend.

She pulled out some pale blue skinny jeans and a bright yellow cardigan to wear over a white vest top. After dressing she pulled on some green pumps and went to the mirror.

Her face was even paler than usual due to the cold and her dark hair looked almost black in the dark room. She pulled her delicate waves into a bun, letting a few layers fall down to frame her face and then went down to the common room.

She instantly spotted Charlie in a corner. He was sat reading a letter while absentmindedly stroking the Weasley family owl, Errol.

She pushed past a crowd of students watching an indoor fireworks performance and sat in the armchair next to him.

"Morning." she smiled at him. He looked up suddenly and smiled back.

"Morning, Lana" he said, folding his letter back up and placing it on a small spindly legged table that was in-between the armchairs.

"Letter from home?" she asked nonchalantly. She feared it would bring the news of her solitude over Christmas break.

"Hmm, listen, Lana. How would you feel.. About spending Christmas at the Burrow?" he said awkwardly. Lana's heart fluttered as she processed the information. The Weasley's actually wanted her to spend Christmas with them.

"I mean, you don't have to but you seemed like you didn't want to get stuck with your granddad. In fact, I don't want you alone here with your granddad. So I asked mum and she practically insisted that I ask you, so…" he rambled worriedly.

"Are you sure?" Lana asked excitedly biting her lip. Seeing Lana's happy reaction Charlie grinned.

"Definitely!" he said.

"Well then. I'd love to!" she grinned and her brain flooded with excitement.

I'm going to someone's for Christmas, I'm getting a Christmas!

She hugged the befuddled boy, then raced upstairs to tell Tonks.

Entering the dorm, she saw Tonks sat at her dressing table. Her hair was spreading like shockwaves through different colours. She caught Lana's reflection in the mirror and turned.

"Hey, you look nice today" she smiled warmly at Lana's colourful attire.

"Oh, thanks, you too!" she gestured to Tonks, who was wearing a purple long sleeved top, with a grey woollen pinafore and purple tights. Tonks shrugged but smiled all the same. Turning back to the mirror she frowned.

"I can't for the life of me, decide what colour to have my hair!" she sighed.

"Well, why don't you have a nice brown with purple streaks?" she asked plonking down on her newly made bed.

"Cool!" she agreed and focused on her hair which promptly turned a pale brown with magenta purple streaks.

"So, I have news!" Lana said happily.

"Oh, do tell!" tonks said happily, swivelling around on her chair.

"Well, Charlie has invited me to stay at the Burrow over Christmas!" she said excitedly.

"Oh good! I was hoping he would!" she said happily swaying on the seat.

"You were?"

"Duh! Why do you think I didn't invite you!" she said, as if it was obvious.

Lana shrugged and looked thoughtful.

"Sheesh, I hope you didn't think we were going to let you stay her with dumble's, did you!" she asked incredulously.

"Nah... I was just feeling sorry for myself!" Lana told her, and leaned back on her bed.

"I'm lucky to have such great friends!" she smiled.

"Damn right you are!" Tonks agreed and then stood from the dressing table.

"Come on then, let's go for breakfast!" she said and then left the room.

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Hours later, and the four were lazing in the common room playing Gobstones. Which Tonks was triumphing in, having won five times in a row.

Suddenly a very troubling thought came to Lana's mind.

"Charlie, I have to get your parents a Christmas present!" she said hurriedly jumping up.

"What! No you don't!" he said tiredly.

"Yeah I do! If I'm going to be a guest I need a gift!" she said exasperatedly.

"Well, it's a hogsmeade weekend next week, we can go then if you want" he shrugged before turning back to the game.

"But that's only for third years and above isn't it?" Noah said frowning.

"Yeah, won't matter, as long as we don't get caught." Tonks inputted, thoughtfully.

Lana smiled at her, gratefully. However, Noah still looked doubtful.

"Hey! Don't come if you do not want to! You can head the teachers off!" she winked.

"No, I want to come!" he said, in a hurt voice. Tonks laughed and hit his arm playfully.

"Too right" she smiled before proceeding to win yet another gobstones game.

"Okay, I'm getting tired of all this goo!" Noah said after a couple more games.

"Yeah, we give in, Tonks. You are officially the best gobstones player in the whole of the school." she laughed.

Suddenly, Elena appeared next to Tonks, smiling sweetly.

"That was a good few games, girlfriend, you know. There is a gobstones club on a Wednesday night in the transfiguration courtyard. You should go!" she told her eagerly.

Tonks smiled warmly.

"Yeah, maybe" she replied casually.

"She's right Tonks! You should totally go!" Lana agreed enthusiastically.

"Guys, I only beat you three! You're not exactly seventh years."

"Nope, but I bet you could beat seventh years if you wanted." she joked.

Tonks nodded but didn't reply.

Realising no more would be said on the subject, Elena stalked off to find someone else to obsess over.

It was nearly five when the sunset and the occupants of Gryffindor tower began to head down to dinner. Including Lana, Charlie, Tonks and Noah. They made their way down the grand staircase and into the entrance hall.

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The mass of students were louder than normal today. Noah looked worried as they entered the entrance hall. He felt like someone was watching them. It made the hairs on the back of his neck tingle.

He began to walk a bit slower and casually looked around for the observer. Then he saw out of the corner of his eye, a large beam that supported the ceiling began to crack and split. Noah grabbed the others and lunged forwards.

It missed them by millimetres. Noah had pulled them away just in time before the old oak support came crashing down. It smashed into to stone floor and cracked it. It split into several pieces of oak and splinters flew in all directions.

Lana had pulled her wand out to put up a shield but not before a large piece of wood plummeted into the back of her right hand. She cried out in pain as blood tricked down her arm.

The wood began to settle and Noah, Tonks and Charlie pulled themselves off the floor. Noah began looking around suspiciously but all he saw was a crowd of students shouting and gossiping.

"Don't bleeding help, then!" Charlie muttered towards the crowd as he pulled Lana off the floor.

The noise quickly ended as professor McGonagall swept past the crowd and shooed them into the hall.

Dumbledore also appeared next to them and began casting under his breath, while waving his wand around the hall.

"Are any of you hurt?" McGonagall asked looking down worriedly at the four children that stood surrounded by dangerously sharp wood.

"Yeah La-" Charlie was cut off as Dumbledore swept past them and said quietly.

"That beam falling down was intentional. The magic holding that up would never fail without help" he said gravely.

"I was sure someone was watching us!" Noah told him. "That's why I was looking around and saw the beam falling in time to move!"

"Did you see who sent it falling, Mr Diggory?" Dumbles asked impatiently.

"No sir!" Noah said a little peeved with Dumbledore's behaviour.

"Very well, Lana I need you to promise me you will never walk alone, that you will always carry your wand and invisibility cloak, and that you will never! Leave the school!" he asked sternly.

"Yes, grandfather" she muttered, clutching her still bleeding hand.

"Oh, you're hurt. Minerva, will you please escort them to the hospital wing?" he said distractedly.

"Of course Albus" she said and then gestured for them to lead the way to the hospital wing.

Halfway there Lana asked what had been troubling her.

"Professor, what does this attack mean?"

"Perhaps you should ask your Grandfather." Then McGonagall preformed one of her rare smiles. It filled Lana with hope but it was quickly tarnished by her words.

"Please, professor!" she pleaded.

"Well, I think that that beam was intended to fatally harm, if not kill, you." she said sadly. "So I would say that the attack suggests you have an enemy in this castle. Possibly a supporter of You Know Who" she told her, honestly. Lana's insides twisted with anger.

"Voldemort is gone! Why cant they except that and move on!" she said frustrated. McGonagall, Noah and Tonks flinched at the name. This annoyed Lana further.

"Seriously?" she asked sarcastically. "The mans half dead in a forest somewhere! Get over it!" she flourished her arms to emphasize this but immediately regretted it.

Her wounded hand seared in pain. Noticing the blood that was dripping form her hand and that had dried on her arm from before, Lana almost lost consciousness as her vision blurred and her knees trembled.

However, she managed to make it to the hospital wing before the loss of blood, the sheer stinging ache of the large splinter in her hand overtook her senses, and she blacked out.

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Madam Pompfrey watched sadly, as the Lana thrashed in her sleep. She wondered what she could be having nightmares about. Then she remembered. She was one of the few that knew the true story of Elizabeth and Henry Dumbledore's deaths as she treated Lana for several weeks afterwards. She watched the poor child struggle to cope with the death of her parents. Then to be moved around from house to house and country to country. Never being able to settle or love anyone. Not even her grandfather.

Poppy thought sadly about Lana's parents. She had been to school with them. Elizabeth was the kindest witch you could ever have known. She was honest, caring, and always helpful. She had the darkest brown hair and the largest green eyes. She was incredibly small and had a tanned complexion. She always wore a smile.

Henry on the other hand, was always more serious. He had his fathers auburn hair and brilliant blue eyes. He was the tallest in the year and the cleverest. He was a true Gryffindor. But when he fell in love with Elizabeth, a Hufflepuff, the arguments started. Albus wasn't ready to let his son settle down. He wanted him to be so much more. They had heated arguments throughout the castle.

Elizabeth too, hated Dumbledore. She saw past his cheery disposition. She saw the true Albus. Well, that's what she told people. And it turned out she was right. The old man was barmy if he thought for a moment he could stop true love.

The couple cut off all ties to Dumbledore and bought a home in Sussex away from Dumbledore. They had wards so he couldn't get in and never revealed their home to anyone unless they knew they could be trusted. It was 10 years before Albus found out where they lived and saw them once more. The day they died.

Poppy was devastated when she heard of her best friend's death. But vowed to protect her only daughter. But she failed. She had let Albus cast her aside like an old toy. But no more.

I'll tell her everything tomorrow! She promised herself once more.

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><p><strong>soooo, pleasepleasepleaseplease REVIEW! come ooooon :):) you know you want to. and constructive criticism is welcome! anyway the buttons just down there! you can see it ;) well, toodles <strong>

**Hannah x **


	12. Hospital and Hogsmeade

**_Heeeeey! okaay so i have nearly finished writing the first yeaar! naaawr how sad :( but there's plenty more to come yet...but that's only gonna happen if i get some reviewers! come on people! :):):)_**

**_thanks to my Beta green lily 96...i think thats right :L _**

**_Hannah x_**

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><p>Lana awoke the next morning suddenly with tears in her eyes. She rose her hand to her eyes to wipe them away and saw a large white bandage wrapped around it. She gasped in pain and let her arm fall back down by her side. Only then she noticed she was in bed. Everywhere was white and pristine. The Hospital Wing, she realised triumphantly. She remembered the events of the night before.<p>

She remembered the blood, the beam and then the hospital wing. And the nightmares. She had watched her father fall backwards. Repeatedly seeing the fateful jet of green plough into his chest and steal his life.

Then the nightmares turned unreal as Lana was the Death Eater casting the spell. She turned to kill herself. Then suddenly she was herself again. She was in a large atrium. It was made entirely of marble. But the marble began to crumble. She saw Noah sprawled out on the floor. And Tonks. And Charlie weeping over a body. Upon closer inspection it was hers, and she was a death eater again. She turned and saw her grandfather. He was standing by a window. She pushed him. He fell down the side of a large building. Then she was at the bottom of the building. There a crowd of children stood sadly. A boy with a dark hair kneeled at his side, closing his eyes. The boy looked up. Into her eyes. They were a bright green, glistening with tears. She reached out to take his hand. To warn him. Suddenly there was a jet of green light. They were in a forest. The boy died. A brilliant white filled her mind and she woke up.

Lana found herself crying again as she recalled her dreams. She wiped them away angrily as madam Pomfrey bustled into the room.

"Ah, your awake!" she sighed and began summoning clean bandages and potions from her office.

"Yeah, morning." Lana said, tiredly.

"Are you okay, Lana? You appeared quite distressed last night." the woman said kindly.

"I'm fine!" Lana said sharply.

"You're a lot like your mother, you know? Merlin she had a temper!" she chuckled, reminiscently.

"You knew my mother?" Lana perked up immediately.

"And your father, we went to school together." the woman nodded.

"Can you tell me about them?" Lana asked, breathlessly.

"Of course I can, oh your mother was my best friend. She looked almost exactly like you but she was absolutely tiny, your father used to pick her up and carry her to lessons. She was kind and loyal. A true Hufflepuff. And your dad loved her with all his heart. He walked her everywhere. She knew they'd be together from the day they met. And they were!" she told the young girl kindly.

"I didn't know mum was a Hufflepuff" Lana said, sadly.

"Oh yes, Lana there's something I feel you should know." she said nervously

"What?" Lana asked

"Well, it's about your parents actually. And your grandfather."

Lana narrowed her eyes at the mention of her grandfather.

"Albus, well he didn't exactly approve of your mother. He thought your father could do such great things. There were many big arguments through the school. It was all over the press. Your parents moved away form him and set up wards so he couldn't see them…. And he didn't for ten years. Until that day" she finished her story sadly.

"Oh."

"I'm so sorry my dear, but when they told me I was devastated. And you were so weak after using all that magic at such a young age. You grandfather managed to convince me that he'd changed and he loved you and wanted what was best for you. So after you were well, I let him take you." she started crying.

Lana got out of bed and put an arm around the older woman.

"It's fine madam Pomfrey!" she said, warmly.

"No it's not! I should have protected you!"

"You did. You just told me everything. I don't have to pretend to like him to honour my parents memory." she told her elatedly.

"My dear, you are so much like your mother. And please I expect I'll be seeing a lot of you and your friends so I would be honoured if you would call me Poppy?"

"I would love to, Poppy!" Lana grinned.

"One question though, why have you never told me before? I've been in the castle enough."

"I still thought you were safe. After watching you these past weeks. I have realised a few things abut you. And I know I can't replace your mother. But I also know she wouldn't want you growing up without someone to go to for love and comfort and advice." she smiled warmly but her eyes were still sad.

Lana was touched. She hugged the woman softly and then started getting ready to leave the hospital wing.

…...

After a hurried explanation, Tonks, Charlie and Noah were caught up on the last twelve hours. Lana skipped out most of the dreams but did tell them about seeing her father die over and over again.

"You were stressed, it probably won't happen again." and Lana desperately wished they were right.

That night as Tonks and Lana climbed into bed, Lana confessed her worries to Tonks.

"Don't worry, Lana! If they do kick in. I promise I'll wake you!" Tonks told her honestly and tried to calm her nerves.

"I just don't want to fall asleep." she admitted.

Suddenly, there was a tapping at the dorm window. Amie tiredly climber out of bed as hers was the nearest and opened the window. Icarus, Lana's owl flew in proudly and landed on her bed post. His chest stuck out importantly.

Lana chuckled and ruffled his feathers affectionately. He hooted in dismay and stuck his leg out to show a small bottle.

Lana untied it from his leg and the owl flew out of the window quickly.

The bottle was labelled. 'dreamless sleep potion' and there as a note attached to it.

'Just in case' it read.

"Who's it from?" tonks yawned suspiciously.

"Don't know, wonder whether I should drink it?" she thought aloud.

" I wouldn't, Lana, you were nearly killed by a falling beam yesterday. And now a stranger is sending you a potion to put you into a sleep! Drinking that would definitely be a wrong move!" Tonks said.

"Hmmm, suppose your right" she sighed and placed the bottle on her bedside table.

…...

The next weekend came quickly. And third years and above were preparing excitedly for their trip into Hogsmeade the following morning.

Friday had passed without a hitch and everyone was in the common room resting after a tough week. The seventh years had their mock NEWTS and many experienced break downs.

The pig nosed seventh year girl was being especially bossy and practically screamed at anyone who spoke.

"So tomorrow, me and Tonks will go to your dorm and we'll get under the cloak and join the crowds into Hogsmeade."

"yeah that's fine, but how are we gonna buy anything?"

"Um...well I was just going to get the catalogues and then owl order everything tomorrow." Tonks shrugged.

"Okay." Noah said resignedly.

Tonks laughed at the expression on his face but was silenced by the same seventh year who had stolen the eggs of Charlie at breakfast in September.

"Do you mind? Some of us would like a bit of quiet after a very hard week!" she screeched.

"Well, there's a whole castle at your feet. Bugger off!" Tonks retorted very annoyed.

"Excuse me?" the pig nosed girl hissed. " Do you want to be banned from the common room?" she sneered.

"Who the hell do you think you are!" Lana demanded, outraged.

"I'm head prefect for your information and I practically own this school." she bragged smugly.

"Erm… I don't think there's such a thing as 'head prefect'." Noah inputted bemusedly.

"And, you don't own this school, Dumbledore does so I'd shut up if I were you" Tonks added angrily.

The girl looked as if she'd been slapped. She turned on her heel and left the common room in a fit of rage.

"Phaaaaaaa!" Tonks shouted after her.

"Bloody hell"

"Some people!"

…...

The next morning, Lana and Tonks woke bright and early. They dressed warmly and then Tonks stuffed Lana's invisibility cloak into her jacket. They walked across the corridor and entered the boys dorm.

"God, your dorm is dull" Lana commented on the old fashioned drapes and beds.

"Thanks." Noah said, dryly as he pulled his socks on.

"Well, hurry up then. We mustn't be late!" Lana warned them.

Soon the boys were dressed warmly too and they pulled the cloak over them. It still fit fine. They walked slowly down the stairs and tagged along behind some fifth years who were leaving the common room.

Before they knew it they were at the entrance of the school. McGonagall was there, checking parental slips were signed. They waited for fifteen minutes before the gate opened and they began the long trek down to the village.

They walked slowly as they had to beware of all the people surrounding them. They arrived at the frost covered village. And started sneaking into shops to grab some catalogues. After they had all the booklets they wanted they entered Honeydukes for a few snacks. Lana was hungry and decided to take a chance. They were still under the cloak and browsing silently when the door tinkled and opened. In strode Dumbledore. His long nose and cheeks were red and his blue eyes twinkled happily.

"Good morning, Ambrosius!" he said heartily but he was looking exactly where the four were stood. Lana froze in fear. Albus walked towards them and they sidestepped out the way just in time. He bent down and picked up a pack of Honeydukes own fudge.

Lana breathed a sigh of relief and they simultaneously walked backwards. As the man rose he winked at them and turned to the man who ran the shop, Ambrosius Flume. And began to chat with him good naturedly.

Lana and Tonks directed the boys to a door behind the till. The front door was blocked by the headmaster and they couldn't risk it.

They entered a dark cellar and pulled the cloak off quickly. The falling fabric blew up a cloud of dust and all three promptly started coughing. Lana quickly muttered 'Lumos' in-between coughs and the room lit up.

"Good…light….lights good" Tonks wheezed.

Lana rolled her eyes. And they began noseying into the boxes.

"Oh cool, look at all these sweets!" Charlie said happily.

Lana found a selection pack and stashed it into her cloak.

"Lana!" Noah hissed.

"Don't worry I'm paying!" she smiled and placed a few galleons down.

"Whoa, you're a big tipper!" tonks laughed.

They continued looking around when suddenly they heard a loud thump. Tonks had tripped up.

"I'm okay, I'm fine!" she said to herself as she got up.

Noah rolled his eyes.

"All the time" he muttered under his breath.

Lana bent down looking for what Tonks had tripped on and found a wooden trap door under a fallen box.

"Hey guys, look at this!" she pulled the door back and revealed a long dark passage.

"Cool! Let's follow it!"

"No, we should go back. It could lead anywhere!" Noah insisted, crossly.

"Oh come on, Noah, where's that Gryffindor sense of adventure?" Charlie joked.

"I should have been Ravenclaw!" he joked and reluctantly followed Tonks down the passage.

They walked for what seemed like hours. But as Noah looked at his watch he knew it had only taken forty-five minutes. They began to reach an incline and then some steps. Then the passage ended.

"Well, this was a waste of time!" Noah huffed.

"No- it's a doorway!" Lana laughed at the stone ending wall. She pushed it lightly and peered out.

"We're in Hogwarts!" she said surprised.

"Well, come on then, before we get caught!" Charlie laughed and pushed her out.

"Well thanks" she huffed dragging him out as well. He laughed and put his arm around her. She broke into a smile and began laughing as well. Tonks and Noah jumped out and they walked back to the Gryffindor tower after closing the wall.

They noted that in front of the wall was a statue of the one eyed witch for future reference.

…...

Later that night Lana perused through the catalogues they had brought home. She finally decided on getting Mrs Weasley a letter writing set that included five beautiful quills, scented parchment, a beautiful ivory letter opener and assorted inks.

For Mr. Weasley she settled on a Muggle camera that was charmed to take moving photos, a photo album and some dark wooden frames.

For Tonks she ticked for a long pale pink over cloak and a book called 'astronomy explained".

For Noah, she decided on a set of books on Arithmancy and a long brown quill. Finally she had to pick for Charlie. She poured over the catalogues trying to find something good. Then she spotted it. A handsome tawny owl. It was a small one as it was only a baby. Its feathers were pale cream and auburn. She ticked the owl instantly along with a book on runes for Bill. She also decided to get an assortment of sweets for the rest of the Weasley's.

She was about to send the letter off with Icarus when she saw a small catalogue that she hadn't noticed she'd picked up. It was from Dervish and Bangs. She looked inside and saw a small photo frame shaped like a teardrop. The frame levitated on a table and the explanation read:

The Funeral Frame

Remember a loved one with the funeral frame, put your favourite memory of them into the frame and it will live on forever. Can be engraved for extra sickle

She added it to the list immediately and sent the owl off.

'It would be perfect for Madam Pomfrey- no Poppy.'

Lana thought happily.

Watching Icarus fly down to the village she couldn't remember the last time she could buy anybody anything. Not having real friends when she was growing up she never had the chance. But now it was different. Now she could share Christmas with people she loved.

…...

December 18th, the last day of term, couldn't come to quickly for Lana. Dumbledore had agreed although somewhat reluctantly to Lana spending Christmas at the Burrow. She had carefully wrapped all the presents she had purchased in fine boxes or paper. And packed the Weasley's into her trunk.

Noah's present along with Tonks' was in her bedside cabinet and Charlie's owl was being kept by Nora the house elf until Christmas day.

As the sun rose the school did too. Over half the pupils were going home for Christmas via the Hogwarts express. However at breakfast, Dumbledore had sent Charlie and Lana a note saying it was safer to travel by Portkey , so they wouldn't be targeted on the train.

The train was set to leave at nine in the morning with Noah and Tonks on it. At half eight, all four walked down to the carriages which lead to Hogsmeade station, so that Lana and Charlie could say goodbye.

Lana hugged Noah and Tonks tearfully and handed them their presents. Noah's was in a large box and Tonks' was wrapped in purple paper and placed in a Muggle gift bag.

Tonks had snatched her present in glee and sang "mine, mine, mine!" all the way down to the carriages.

At the carriages Tonks turned and gave Lana a relatively small box that jingled when it was shook. Noah gave her a long thin package wrapped in brown paper.

Charlie also received a small box from tonks and what looked like a book from Noah.

On the way back up to the school, Lana asked Charlie.

"Hey, what did you get Tonks and Noah?" she asked softly.

"Erm.. Well we couldn't afford much so I got Noah book on magical creatures and Tonks a book on jinxes." he said uncomfortably.

"Just what we need" she laughed at the thought of Tonks knowing more jinxes.

They made their way back up to the school so they could pick up their trunks before departing.

…...

Not half an hour later, Lana and Charlie had levitated their trunks up to the headmasters office and were waiting excitedly for the Portkey to activate.

They sat talking for a few minutes before Albus swept into the room.

"Ah, my dear are you ready to leave?" he asked calmly.

"Yes." she replied stiffly.

"Good good, looking forwards to the holiday, Mr Weasley?"

"Yes" Charlie replied just as stiffly.

"Ah, excellent." The Portkey flashed blue.

"Well, then. I'll see you January the tenth, then my dear"

"Can't wait!" she told him sarcastically. And they grabbed onto the old teddy bear being used as their portkey.

Lana felt a sharp tug and then her grandfather flew out of view.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well, you know what to do! pwetty pwease! ;)<strong>_


	13. Nightmares and Shopping

Hello :) this chapter has me feeling all christmassy! so merry February! and as always Enjoy!

* * *

><p>As they crashed down to earth Lana could hear Charlie shouting manically.<p>

Then they landed in something very wet and muddy.

"Eurgh! We're in the swamps!" Charlie complained, wiping his muddy hands on his trousers.

"Oh dear, I think I got mud in my hand." Lana said wiping her bandaged hand on Charlie as well. She winced in pain as the old wound hit the surface of Charlie's back.

"Gee, merry Christmas Lana!" he said dryly.

"To you too!" she beamed merrily and waded through the water towards the Burrow.

They approached the gates of the burrow and could see molly Weasley bustling around.

Charlie raced into the higgledy house with Lana not far behind to greet his mum.

"Oh darlings!" she cried seeing her son.

She gave him a bone crushing hug and then turned to Lana.

"Oh, you poor dear. You're welcome to the Burrow anytime!" she assured her and gave her another hug. Lana found the comfort overwhelming.

"Thanks, Mrs Weasley!" she smiled.

"Now, look at the state of you both! Go and get a bath, Lana can go first." she told them.

"Thanks Mrs Weasley but I think I got something in my hand when we crashed." she told the red haired woman who instantly went to the kitchen and pulled open a book.

Charlie and Lana followed her through.

"Well, it says here that you'll probably need a professional to do it. So go and get cleaned in the shower and I'll floo madam Pomfrey." she told her warmly. She waved her wand and their trunks began levitating up the stairs.

"Now, Lana you're in Ginny's room. She'll be no trouble and we're right across the hall." she told her and ushered her up the stairs to the bathroom.

"Thank you!" Lana told her again and then closed the door behind her.

"Who'd of thought it? My son best friends with a Dumbledore!" she muttered to herself happily.

…...

Later that day, after a quick visit from madam Pomfrey, Lana's hand was fixed up again and herself and Charlie were playing with Ronald and Ginny by the fire.

Mr Weasley had retuned from work shortly before and the two adults were getting ready to pick Bill up from Kings Cross Station. Bill had chosen to go with his friends on the train.

"Right, we won't be long only an hour or so because I want to get some shopping done while we're in London" she told them.

"Mum, stop worrying! You have Fred and George. We can look after Perce, Ron and Gin!" Charlie soothed.

After some more worrying, Mr Weasley managed to drag the woman into his new Ford Anglia and they drove away from the house.

"Right, its time for their beds in a minute" Charlie said indicating to the cheery toddler in front of him and the gurgling babe in front of Lana.

"Okay, where's Percy?" she asked picking the giggling Ginny up.

"He's in his room. But he'll want supper before bed." he told her and heaved the podgy Ron off the floor.

He carried him up the stairs and the small boy started shouting "Boom!" in glee.

Lana picked up the cute baby Ginny and carried her up the stairs as well. She looked down at the peaceful infant. The baby had tufts of red hair and a cut button nose. Glassy orbs of chocolate brown stared up at Lana and she waved her fists happily.

Entering Ginny's room, Lana saw that a camp bed had been set up in the corner of the room with a large quilt over it and several fluffy pillows; Her trunk was next to the bed with a small lamp on and a few books.

'That's so sweet!" Lana smiled to the baby and placed her into her cot.

The baby's large eyes filled with tears as Lana walked away and she began to whimper. Lana turned and walked back to the cot.

"Don't worry, honey, we're only down the stairs, I promise you! You will always have people that love you. Right by you, all the way." she smiled sadly and stoked the infant's hair until her eyes closed peacefully and she drifted off to sleep.

When she got back down the stairs, Lana found Charlie making Percy a jam sandwich.

The seven year old waited by the table impatiently.

"Hey Percy" Lana smiled. The boy huffed and walked away.

"S'up with him?" Lana asked, worriedly.

"He's upset because I messed his 'routine' up." he shrugged and finished making the sandwich.

"Hungry?"

"Nah, I ate before" she smiled and sat on the couch.

Charlie handed the annoyed boy the plate of sandwiches. Percy took off back to his bedroom without another word.

"That boy thinks he's the bee's bloody knees!" Charlie said, tiredly. Lana nodded in agreement and they waited for Charlie's parents to return with Bill.

They talked about Christmas and school. They tried to avoid the subject of the warrior's wand but somehow the topic couldn't be ignored anymore.

"Do you reckon the ultimate sacrifice is death?" Charlie asked and stared into the fire.

"Yeah, I do" she said solemnly

"Well then, all you have to do is never love anyone and you won't ever die!" he said sarcastically.

"Pha! Bit to late for that don't you think?" she snorted.

He looked thoughtful fro a moment before looking deep into her sparkling green eyes and saying.

"Yeah, I do"

Suddenly the door burst open and Bill walked in dragging his trunk behind him.

Molly and Arthur followed him in looking very worried.

"What happened?" Lana feared the worst. Tonks and Noah were on the train.

"Well, you know that horrible pig nosed seventh year?" Bill asked sadly.

"She was collaborating with some of you know who's old friends, she got one onto the train. He went under a disillusion charm and searched the train. For you.

When the Death Eater found you weren't there, he killed her in front of some first years. Your friends; Noah and Tonks. They're definitely meant to be Gryffindor's! They were there when she was killed. They weren't fast enough to stop the killing curse but they threw curses and jinxes at the Death Eater non stop. Dumbles apparated onto the train and tied up the Death Eater. I guess we'll find out who it was tomorrow." Bill finished his tale.

Lana couldn't speak. She knew that training Tonks and Noah in duelling had paid off now. But at the cost of a life. She couldn't process it all. That seventh year. No matter how horrid she was, she was dead because of Lana.

Charlie seemed to read her mind.

"It wasn't your fault Lana! It was hers. You didn't kill her and you didn't make her become a death eaters Pal." he told her kindly.

"I know." she whispered.

Then she was crushed by a motherly hug off Mrs Weasley.

After a few minutes she pulled away.

"Now, off to bed with you!" she smiled and shooed the three youngsters up the stairs.

…...

Lana quietly closed the door on Ginny's room as to not wake the sleeping baby. She climbed under the heavy duvet and pushed away memories of that lethal green light.

After what seemed like hours, Lana drifted off to sleep. At first everything was fine. She dreamt she was walking in a long white dress. The dress was beautiful and delicate. Her dark hair was tied in a loose bun and small fragile flowers were weaved throughout her tresses. She caught sight of herself in a mirror; she saw a glimpse of back. She turned. It was a Death Eater. The room erupted with green light and everyone was dead. The death eater raised his wand. He pulled a figure off the floor. It was the seventh year. He started torturing her until blood poured from her mouth. Suddenly the scene changed. Lana was in a large hall of some sort. The walls were slimy and there was a large statue at the end of the hall. Suddenly there was a giant snake slithering down the hall. A small red haired girl was stood next to Lana. Her eyes were wide in fright. Lana recognised those eyes. They were big and honey brown and glistened with tears.

"GINNY!" she screamed as the girl collapsed in exhaustion.

Suddenly the scene left. She felt someone holding her hand.

"Ginny's fine Lana." a voice told her. She shot up. She realised she was still in the Burrow.

Charlie was sat next to her stroking her hair and holding her hand.

"Charlie!" she said in surprise.

"You had a nightmare again?" Charlie asked.

"Um yeah" Lana told him embarrassed.

"What about? Cos it cant just be your parents. You shouted for Ginny, you screamed in fact." he told her. She looked up and saw Mrs. Weasley walking around rocking Ginny back to sleep.

"I'm so sorry Mrs Weasley!" Lana gasped.

"Not to worry, my dear." she told her warmly and placed the baby back in her cot.

"How about a nice hot chocolate?" she asked. Lana and Charlie both agreed enthusiastically and Mrs Weasley went downstairs leaving the pair alone.

"Look, Lana , you can tell me you know." he told her calmly.

"I'm sorry for waking you Charlie." she told him, ignoring the question.

"It's fine," he sighed.

"Look, I don't want you to know the dreams because they're not real! They'll go away soon." she told him shortly and rolled over.

"Fine!" he said and left the room.

hearing the door swing shut behind him, Lana let a tear roll down her cheek. And this time, she didn't want to wipe it away.

…...

The next morning, Lana dressed quickly in plain blue dress robes and silver pumps then she helped dress Ginny . She couldn't stop thinking about the dream and had gotten very little sleep. She picked Ginny up and carried her down the stairs. She saw Mrs Weasley preparing breakfast, Mr Weasley sat in a shabby cloak, fiddling with an old Muggle plug.

"Morning, Mr Weasley, Mrs Weasley." Lana nodded to them and sat at the table.

"Oh, hello dear, sleep well?" Mrs Weasley asked, anxiously.

"Yeah." Lana lied at the floor. Mrs Weasley looked doubtful but didn't say anything.

"Where's Charlie?" Lana asked sadly.

"He went for a walk up the hill, he liked watching the birds when he was younger." she told her and started putting her breakfast out.

"Eggs, dear?"

"No thanks, Mrs Weasley, I'll just have some toast please?" the woman looked as if she was about to protest but held her tongue and fetched some bread.

After hurriedly eating some toast Lana pulled on a thick cream winter cloak over her blue robes and went outside to find Charlie. She could see him sat at the top of the hill and slowly walked against the freezing winds to get to him.

Approaching him she noticed he was only wearing a small jacket.

Boys! She thought angrily.

"Hey," she smiled sadly.

"Hi" he said staring into the village over the hill.

"Look, I'm sorry about last night. I was just upset and tired." she apologised sorrowfully.

"I know." he sighed and looked at her intensely.

"I'll give you the memories if you really want, but they're disgusting!" she warned.

"No, it's just that I wished you told us before hand." Lana had a horrid sinking feeling. Did he not want her here anymore.

"I mean, we could have helped you! Brought you a pensieve or dreamless sleep potion or something!" he told her.

She sighed a breath of relief and promised Charlie they would go to Diagon Alley and find something to help.

…...

It was set that they would go to Diagon Alley on the 22nd ,which was a Wednesday. Hagrid was taking them and they were going to meet up with Tonks and Noah there for lunch.

The first snow came on the night before their trip. So the Burrow woke to a blanket of white.

Lana braved the cold air and climbed out of her bed. She checked on Ginny but the baby was still sleeping peacefully.

Lana opened her trunk and pulled out some cream robes with brown flowers stitched into the sleeves. The long robes hung over cream ballet shoes and she carefully picked a dark brown cloak. As she pulled her clothes from her cloak, she realised how lucky she was to be able to afford these beautiful clothes.

As soon as she was dressed, she went downstairs for a hot coffee before facing the cold day.

As usual, Mrs Weasley was fretting bout letting them go but the amazing Mr Weasley calmed her down.

Charlie came down not long after wearing a Dark brown cloak that not only made his eyes shine but also matched Lana's. They both burst out laughing after seeing their appearances but didn't bother changing.

After Charlie had eaten a hearty breakfast that included a mass of eggs they were ready to go.

"I don't know where you got such a big appetite for eggs!" Mr Weasley frowned at him as he ate.

"Don't know." Charlie shrugged but winked at Lana who struggled to stifle her laughter.

Luckily Mr Weasley couldn't question them anymore as a loud, booming noise coming from the hallway alerted them to the fact Hagrid had arrived.

The two ran out and Lana gave her friend a big hug as he stood in the violent winds. They pulled their scarves on. Lana opted for pale pink while Charlie's were Gryffindor red and then left the Burrow by side along apparition.

Soon they arrived in diagon alley. They had to wait a few minutes for Charlie and Lana to regain their excitement after the sickening apparation but soon they set off into the crowds of last minute Christmas shoppers.

Looking around they noted that they had landed by the stationary shop so walked back towards the leaky cauldron.

They window shopped for a while as they walked unit they came to the apothecary and went inside.

Inside the Shop they saw rows and rows of Bottles and boxes of potion ingredients and barrels of badly smelling powders.

They walked through the dark shop to the till and spoke to the man at the front. He was a short man with square glasses and a pale grey face. Lana got the impression that the man didn't get out a lot.

"Excuse me; I'm looking for something to help me sleep?" Lana asked politely at the man.

He turned and narrowed his eyes.

"Forever or just at night time?" he growled.

"At night time" Lana said worriedly. What was he going to give her?

"Ah, good" he said staring at her. He turned quickly and began searching through shelves.

After a few minutes he seemed to find what he was looking for.

"Aha! Here it is!" he growled and held up a big bottle of khaki green goo.

"This is the spawn of frog mixed with mud, it'll allow you to sleep all night through!" Lana pulled a disgusted face.

"Actually I think we're going to keep looking." Charlie said disturbed and lead Lana out of the shop.

Once out in the cold street with Hagrid they burst out laughing. They proceeded to tell Hagrid of the man as they walked to the Leaky Cauldron to meet Noah and Tonks for lunch.

…...

Thankfully they reached the Leaky Cauldron just as it started snowing again and saw Tonks and Noah sat on a table in the corner. They ordered their drinks and Hagrid decided to stay at the bar. Lana raced past the other tables to hug Tonks.

"I can't believe you knocked out a death eater!" Charlie beamed.

"I know! I was so angry I wished I knew the killing curse… of course, I do now. I was just angry after watching him murder that woman." Noah added with a glance at Lana who was watching her butterbeer froth.

"Hey, who was the Death Eater, we never found out!" Charlie asked.

"Oh my god! You won't believe this, you know that Nott boy? It was his dad!" Tonks said, dramatically.

"Oh god, next term will be fun won't it!" Charlie snorted.

Suddenly out of the blue Lana said quietly.

"You don't need to know the killing curse to kill" she muttered sadly.

"We know" Tonks said, warmly, and squeezed her shoulder.

"So!" Noah said to change the subject. "What's everyone eating?"

…...

After lunch the four set off into the alley. They entered madam Malkin's robes for all occasions so Noah could buy some Christmas robes.

After entering Lana saw Charlie looking wistfully at some gold dress robes with green vines weaving up the sleeves.

"They're beautiful!" she noted as they waited for Noah.

"Hmm, can't afford them though!" he sighed and looked away. Lana didn't need to know occlumency to realise that he was embarrassed.

"Well, let me get them for you!" she insisted.

"No, Lana!" he laughed.

"Oh come on, sorry but the Christmas present I got you is awful! So I'll get you these instead!"

Charlie ignored her and walked over to Tonks.

"Aha!" she said triumphantly and purchased the robes.

They were just leaving when a small figure 'accidentally' rammed into them.

"Hey!" tonks shouted in protest as her bags fell to the floor.

"Watch it blood traitor!" the boy looked up. It was Nott.

"Says you, Death Eater!" she snorted.

"You'll pay for what you did to my father!" he sneered.

"How much 'cause I left my Gringotts key at home!" she laughed.

"He's got twenty years in Azkaban thanks to you!" he hissed.

"Aw, your welcome darling" she smiled at him and picked her bags up.

They were again set to leave when a short skinny woman with a straight back and long neck walked into the shop. She was wearing black and green robes with black heels.

"Ah, there you are Calloway" she said to Nott.

The four snorted upon learning his first name.

She turned to them sharply and glared.

"Oho! What have we here? The hero's of Hogwarts." she said evilly.

"Ooh, that's catchy!" Lana laughed.

"Yeah, I like the sound of that!" Charlie agreed.

"Your fools! Don't think this is over!" she hissed at them and led Calloway away from them.

They once again burst out laughing and finished their shopping.

Stopping off at the magical instrument shop, Lana found a small portable pensieve and purchased it quickly. Maybe not having the memories so intense could help her nightmares.

* * *

><p>Well, what'd you think? please please please let me know! i would reaaaally appreciate it! :) C'mon, it'll cheer me up! i got a D it my IT report so my parents are being cra-zy! so please, do something good today and cheer up a stranger ;)<p>

Hannah x

Review Reply =

Flourish1998=naawr thank you :) yeah, Harry isn't actually gonna be in theses stories that much but should be in some spin off's I'm gonna do later on. also Dumbledore is meant to be different from the films because he's gonna change into the man we all know. hopefully...

I hope that didn't give that much away.


	14. Christmas and a Walk

**_So here it is!, _**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

><p>Christmas Eve was unlike anything Lana had ever experienced before. The Weasley spent the morning preparing food and the afternoon lazing around, playing games and listening to the Wizarding Wireless.<p>

It was seven in the evening when Charlie and bill were having an argument over Quidditch.

"Look, why don't you boys stop arguing about Quidditch and go out and play some!" Mr Weasley finally said.

"But it's freezing Arthur, and they could get seen!" Mrs Weasley said outraged.

"They'll be fine, Molly! And the Muggles will all be inside watching their telly fishes. I heard its popular at Christmas." Arthur told her.

She still looked worried but reluctantly agreed to let them out onto the orchard.

"Coming, Lana?" Charlie asked happily.

"Yeah, count me in!" she grinned and pulled a Muggle coat on.

"Don't forget your gloves!" Mrs Weasley called after them.

Bill rolled his eyes and shut the kitchen door behind him. They walked down to the broom shed and pulled out a few old brooms.

"Right, how do you want to play?" Bill asked as they battled the winds to the orchard.

"We could practice, 1 keeper 2 chasers?" Lana suggested. Both boys agreed and mounted their brooms.

"Well, I'll be Keeper first and you and Bill can be chasers." Charlie said and took off into the sky.

Lana too mounted her broom, but slowly. She hadn't been on a broom in years. But she knew how much she loved the feeling of the wind in her hair and the dangerous element. Without further hesitation she took off as fast as the old broom could carry her.

Her and Bill were positioned in the air and Charlie threw the toy Quaffle into the air. Lana rushed through the air and caught it easily. She weaved and span through the air and flung the Quaffle past Charlie. But Charlie was too fast. In a second he was in front of the Quaffle and caught it.

"Bloody hell, Charlie! You should try out for keeper next year!" Bill said.

"You could have, but never did!" Charlie protested.

"Yeah, well, my friends aren't into Quidditch."

This surprised Charlie so much he dropped the Quaffle.

Lana spiralled down and snatched it out of the air. She raced up wards and flung it past the distracted Charlie it missed the edge of the post by millimetres and went through.

"And you!" Bill said turning to Lana "You would make a bloody good chaser!"

She blushed and continued chasing after the Quaffle.

…...

After an hour of playing, the snow eventually became too thick and they touched down. The walk through the snow was not a fun one. They were soaked through and Lana was shivering uncontrollably.

"Just think, we'll be back at the house soon." Charlie smiled through his own chattering teeth.

She nodded and they continues walking until the could see the light of the Burrow through the thick snow.

They waddled through the snow and gratefully fell into the house.

Mrs Weasley ushered them in and quickly made some hot chocolate. They drank them enthusiastically and quickly warmed up.

"Ha-ha, my ears are buzzing" Lana laughed.

"Oh yeah, me too!" Charlie laughed.

"You two are delirious!" Bill observed.

Suddenly there was a flash of green in the corner. Instantly the memories flooded back. Shouting, light, blood, ashes, stones, death.

"Lana, you okay?" she heard Charlie whisper in her ear.

"It was just the floo." she slowly turned and saw a figure wiping ash from his purple cloak.

"Ah, Albus. So glad you could join us!" Molly smiled, greeting the man.

"I can't stay long, Molly dear, I'm just dropping off Lana's present" he laughed and shook some ash from his beard.

"You've never got me a present before." Lana said, suspiciously. She heard Molly gasp but Albus chose to ignore both females and turned to Arthur.

"Ah Arthur my friend, how's work been?" he asked.

"Fine Albus" he told him casually and turned away.

Sensing his presence was no longer welcome the headmaster quickly said his goodbyes and left leaving a cloud of dust behind him.

Soon, Lana was engulfed by a motherly hug and sent off to bed.

… …...

After a quick wash, Lana changed into her pyjamas and set up her new pensive.

Summoning the memories that caused her the most trouble she held her wand to her head and pulled away the silver liquid. The substance hung loosely off her wand and then poured into the pensive. The inside of the pensive swirled and thrashed violently like a stormy sea.

"What's happening?" Charlie asked from the doorway.

Lana jumped in shock, her wand raised.

"Don't worry, it's only me," he laughed with his hands up. She glared at him and turned back to the pensive.

"Well?" he prompted, as he sat on her bed next to her.

"I'm not sure, but I think that it's rejecting the memories." she said unsurely biting her lip.

"Most would." Charlie sighed.

"Not helping!" Lana sang and retrieved the memories from the basin.

"Pha! How's this for help?" he asked and began tickling her.

"No, no get off!" Lana screamed over the laughter.

He climbed off her with a mischievous smile.

"Yeah. I don't need to do the dirty work myself" he sighed and flicked his wrist.

Suddenly Lana let out a piercing laugh and clutched her side.

"You did wandless magic!" she gasped in awe through her laughter.

"Yeah, I've been practising in my spare time." he told her after releasing the tickling charm.

"That's amazing honey, I'm so proud of you!" she told him pretending to cry.

He beamed and said goodnight.

Lana felt like the happiest first year at Hogwarts. If only she didn't have to fear the night.

…...

The next morning Lana woke to Charlie bounding into her room shouting "It's Christmas!"

"Wha hey!" she sang and jumped out of bed while rubbing her eyes tiredly. The nightmares had visited her sleep once again but didn't return after Lana woke up for the fourth time. She pulled her pale green dressing gown on and slippers and followed Charlie down the hall, carrying a sleepy Ginny.

The baby gurgled happily as Lana bounced her on her hip lightly. They entered the living room where the fire was blazing cosily and the Christmas tree was twinkling merrily in its light.

Lana handed Ginny to Mrs Weasley and sat down. They started off by opening their presents from Mr and Mrs Weasley. Lana received a cosy green jumper with white lilies decorating the bottom and a tub of fudge.

"Thank you so much!" Lana beamed pulling the jumper on over her dressing gown. Mrs Weasley laughed and hugged her quickly before the rest of the Weasley's opened their presents.

Next, Charlie and Lana opened their presents from Noah and Tonks.

From Tonks, Lana received a beautifully delicate and intricate friendship bracelet. It was made up of hundreds of tiny circles that shone in the firelight. Charlie also received a bracelet but his was made up of squares and therefore looked a little more manly.

There was a not attached in the boxes.

Hey Lana,

These are friendship bracelets, the woman who sold me them put some basic protection charms to deflect jinxes. Nothing major but kind of useful hope your okay

Tonks x

Noah had given Lana a long thin package which turned out to be a wand cover. There was another note.

Hey Lana,

Hope your having a good Christmas? I am.

This is a wand cover. You can charm it to whatever colour you want and its unbreakable as well!

See you at school

Noah Diggory.

Lana looked over to Charlie and saw that he had received the same present form both.

"Cool!" he breathed and slipped his wand into the cover. The wand cover turned a dark mahogany brown and Charlie grinned.

Lana copied him after slipping her bracelet on and her holster turned green.

She smiled too and they waited for Fred and George to open their presents.

Soon Lana only had three more presents to open.

The first from Charlie another from Bill and the last from her grandfather.

She quickly tore Charlie's open and found a beautiful pendant. It was little ivory figures on a wooden oval. The figures were of a phoenix and a unicorn. They wondered around the wood and seemed at perfect peace.

"Charlie its beautiful!" she gasped and showed it to Ginny who stared in awe at the unicorn.

"It's a strengthening pendant. It helps focus the magic in your wand" He told her.

"wow!" she smiled at him and gave him a quick hug much to his embarrassment and then slipped the necklace over her head.

Next Charlie opened her present. First he opened the gold dress robes and laughed:

"You said you wouldn't!"

"I did no such thing!" she gasped and then laughed as well.

Then Lana opened the present form Bill. It was a book entitled 'Old Wizarding Legends-Merlin and Beyond' .

"Thanks Bill!" she smiled reading the blurb happily.

Lana finished with her grandfathers present. It turned out to be a photo of her parents. They were holding a tiny infant outside a house. Lana recognised the house. It was big. To big. Large stone grey bricks. Green vines creeping up the wall. Large windows. House elves playing in the garden. A fountain in the drive. A broom shed. A large green bedroom, a pink nursery. Large marble pillars. And her family.

"That was my home!" she gasped through tears.

Immediately she felt Charlie put an arm around her shoulders and lead her outside.

"I'm sorry Lana" he said quietly.

"No, it's Dumbledore's fault, besides, it shouldn't surprise me that I used to have a home. And house elves. Did you see the elves playing?" he nodded sadly. "I bet they looked after me as a baby." she thought and wiped the tears away.

After a few minutes they re-entered the living room and Lana pulled a bag out from behind the tree.

"So, these are from me" she smiled and pulled out the first present. It was Mr Weasley's camera.

She handed him the box and watched him as he carefully opened it.

"Look, Molly! It's a camera! It's something Muggle!"

Lana explained the charms and procedure carefully and then Mr Weasley started taking pictures of everything. Especially the family which meant every few minutes everyone got up and had to stand together. Lana was even dragged into a few.

The next present in the bag was Mrs Weasley's writing set.

She opened it and gasped.

"Oh, you shouldn't have!" she said tearfully and pulled her into a very big hug.

Then it was Bill's turn. She handed him the book and watched as he opened it.

"I've been wanting this for ages!" he said in astonishment.

"good" she smiled and dug into the bag. She pulled out the assortment of sweets and gave them to Mrs Weasley.

"For everyone" she smiled.

"Oh your such a sweet girl."

Lana smiled back and then called out. "Nora?"

The small elf appeared wearing a small clean pinafore and a woolly hat over her large ears.

"Yes, mistress?"

"Merry Christmas Nora!" she beamed and hugged her tightly.

"Merry Christmas mistress!" the elf wailed into Lana's stomach.

"Can you go and get Charlie and Ginny's presents, please?" she said quietly. The elf bowed her head and disappeared with a crack!

Second later, Nora retuned holding a large covered cage.

Lana handed it to Charlie who pulled the cover off eagerly.

"Bloody hell!"

"Waaaa"

"Charles Ray Weasley, watch your language!"

"Mum!"

"Waaaaaaaaa"

"That's so cool!"

"What are you going to call her?"

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

Molly got up and took the screaming Ronald with her. Arthur followed obediently and shut the door, blocking the sound of Ron's scream.

"You shouldn't have, Lana!" Charlie said incredulously.

She only smiled and opened the cage. The bird instantly flew to Charlie and rested on his shoulder.

"Hello girl?" he smiled.

"I don't know what to call her?" he wondered.

Lana shrugged.

"How about Willow?" he asked to bird.

She fluttered her large amber eyes and nipped at his neck affectionately.

"Willow it is then" Lana said happily.

Mrs and Mrs Weasley re-entered the room after putting Ronald back to bed and were introduced to Willow.

"Oh! She's beautiful" Mrs Weasley gushed.

"A fine bird indeed" Mr Weasley agreed

"Well, put her with Icarus and the you can all get changed for dinner. You can wear your new robes, Charles." Mrs Weasley instructed them.

Charlie carefully put the baby Owl into her cage and placed her on top of a cupboard in the hall with Icarus. The older owl looked wearily at the newcomer but hooted peacefully. Then they went upstairs to change.

Lana entered Ginny's room and pulled her heavy trunk open. She removed the top layer of clothes and saw a cardboard box tied with brown string.

Opening the box she remembered the stunning emerald dress robes that she had bought in September. She ran her fingers over the intricate golden flowers that were sown into the sleeves.

She decided that it would be perfect to wear today and slipped into it. She pulled her long, dark hair into a Plait and let it hang over her left shoulder.

Mrs Weasley entered the room carrying Ginny making Lana remember Ginny's present.

"Oh, Mrs Weasley, I forgot to give you Ginny's present." she told her and then pulled the lighting bolt rattle from her bag.

Mrs Weasley opened it for Ginny and chuckled appreciatively.

"Oh! Wonderful! She broke her own the other day." she laughed and handed it to Ginny who smiled widely and shook it violently.

"You look beautiful by the way, my dear" she commented as she placed the baby onto her changing table.

"Thank you, Mrs Weasley." Lana replied happily. "You look lovely too!" she gestured to the older woman's deep red robes.

She mumbled something about Arthur's present and then pulled Lana in for a famous hug.

…...

Lana met with Charlie on the stairs several minutes later.

He looked very handsome indeed. His red tinged brown hair was actually brushed for once and swept into a side fringe. His gold robes reflected off his hair and appeared a more bronze colour. The green vines that spiralled up his arms and onto his shoulder highlighted the flecks of green in his deep brown eyes and he was wearing a cute lopsided grin.

"Hey"

"Hey"

"You look nice"

"You too"

"Well, shall we?"

"We shall!" Lana grinned and followed Charlie down the stairs.

…...

"Well, it's a Weasley tradition to get very bored while waiting for dinner. It happens every year!" Charlie informed Lana.

"Well, why don't we go for a walk?" Lana suggested. His face lit up.

"That's a brilliant idea! I'll go ask mum" he said excitedly and jumped up.

Lana followed happily.

At first, Mrs Weasley appeared as if she was going to say no but seemed to change her mind.

"Very well, but your father is coming with you and your taking the twins!" she said.

"Cool!" he agreed and they raced out to the shed to find Mr Weasley.

The old shed was full of Muggle artefacts, including an old washing machine and a kettle.

"Wow!" Lana breathed.

"Yeah, Dad's mad about Muggles!" he laughed, fiddling with a rubber duck.

"I'm not mad, Charles, just … fascinated" Mr Weasley appeared looking thoughtful.

"Yeah… so mum said we can go for a walk along as you come?" He asked.

"That's a marvellous idea! Something other than the famous boring Christmas mornings!"

"Yeah , and it gets us out of peeling sprouts!" Charlie snorted.

"No, your mum and I did that yesterday." Lana smiled.

Charlie shrugged but smiled to.

"Well, we'll go and get the twins ready and meet you in the hall in half an hour?" Charlie asked his dad.

"No, we'll walk down to the village dressed like muggles." Mr Weasley decided.

The two raced back into the warm house and got changed. Lana pulled on a pair of jeans and a plain white vest top with her new knitted jumper form Mrs Weasley on top. Over which She wore a Muggle trench coat and Wellington boots.

Then they went to find the twins. Lana took Fred and Charlie took George and made sure they had their coats on as well as scarves, cloves and hats.

Once they were fully covered they went back outside and saw Mr Weasley pulling on his own coat.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yep." Charlie replied as he lifted George out of a pile of snow. Charlie had now changed into some Muggle cargo trousers and a thick black fleece and waterproof coat. he also sported big hiking boots.

They set off the long trek over the hill. They had some fun on the way there and chucked a fair few snowballs. Most of which came form the twins. They laid it on fast and heavy and eventually were called off by Mr Weasley who didn't want to explain to Molly why they were all soaked.

"They'll make decent beaters one day!" Charlie muttered shaking some snow out of his hair.

"Yeah, I think they will!" Lana agreed.

They reached the village and the snow was much more manageable to walk in their. They walked for a bit observing the Muggle Christmas decorations much to Mr Weasley's delight.

Eventually they decided it was time to turn back and the twins decided a race was in order. They took off into the whiteness and Lana chased after them.

"She's a lovely girl, Charlie" Mr Weasley told his second eldest son.

"Yeah, she's a great friend. She doesn't deserve what's happened to her." he sighed remorsefully.

"I understand things were rough with Dumbledore, but he's a good man. The best in fact. I don't think I have ever met anyone who cared as much as him"

"If he cared so much. Why did he do all that to her?"

"Look son, I've know Albus all my life. And I know that he probably had a good reason for sending her away," Arthur argued.

"Oh, he had a reason all right. But it wasn't a good one." Charlie muttered and then started running after the twins and Lana who were quickly fading from view.

He slowly caught up with them and saw Lana with Fred in her arms and George clinging onto her hand.

"Hey, Fred's scraped his knee." she told him.

"Oh, it's fine we'll take him back to mum now" he re-assured her they walked the rest of the way back together with Mr Weasley lagging behind.

Soon they were back at the Burrow and Fred's knee was soon fixed up with a stern warning from Mrs Weasley to settle down.

The Weasley clan and Lana sat down to a wonderful Christmas dinner. And for the first time, since as long as Lana could remember, she had a truly magical Christmas day.

* * *

><p><em><strong>okay, so yes i know charlie is a seeker in the books but... i wanted a keeper so mergh!<strong>_

_**also i kow this chapter was a bit useless but basiclly I'm finishing this year and then the other years are going to be much! more structured and planned :L sorry much love.**_

_**Hannah x**_


	15. Hogwarts and Hagrids

sorry for the delay, but both myself and my Beta - green lily 96 are undergoing the horrors that are - GCSE's :P ahwell, Enjoy!

* * *

><p>The next week was almost sad as Lana and Charlie battled to finish their homework before the return to school. Fortunately they managed to complete it with a day to spare. They spent that day lazing around and playing Quidditch.<p>

Lana spent a lot of time looking after Ginny over the past week to help Mrs Weasley out and the baby had instantly took to the older girl.

"She'll scream bloody murder when you leave tomorrow!" Mrs Weasley informed them as they sat down to supper on the last night.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Lana said instinctively.

"Nothing to be sorry about, dear, it's lovely to see you with her. It's hard to be the youngest little girl in a family of boys!" Mrs Weasley laughed heartily.

Lana blushed lightly but smiled back.

Soon the table was laden with the many superb dished of Mrs Weasley.

"This treacle tart is beautiful, Mrs Weasley" Lana told her. She had always like treacle tart but this was nicer than any she had ever had before.

"Thank you dear!" she smiled warmly. "You know, I'm going to miss you when you go back to school" she told Bill, Charlie and Lana.

"You just like that you didn't have to deal with Ron and Ginny at the same time!" Bill snorted. It was true that Ginny and Ron seemed to cause havoc when they were left together.

Mrs Weasley smiled sheepishly.

"If you want some help, I'm Sure Nora would be happy to come over." Lana suggested.

"No dear, I don't want to be any trouble."

"I'm sure she'd love it Mrs Weasley, If you want her help that is. Honestly, I'd rather she wasn't at Hogwarts. You never know if Dumbledore's going to use her to check up on me." she told her sadly.

"Well, if you don't mind." Mrs Weasley said, slowly.

"No I don't mind," she smiled. " but it's technically not up to me". the Weasley's gave her a confused look.

"Nora?"

"Mistress called?" the elf appeared in the room and bowed gracefully.

"Hey Nora, how would you like to come and help Mrs Weasley here at the Burrow?"

The elf's face lit up happily and she looked excitedly between Lana and Molly.

"Nora would love to mistress, but what if mistress needs Nora at Hogwarts?" she fretted needlessly.

"Well, you can just apparate to me, can't you?" she asked.

"Yes of course mistress, sorry mistress, Nora gets confused." the elf giggled.

Lana laughed too and hugged the little elf happily.

"Well, it's a pleasure to work with you Nora" Mrs Weasley inputted.

"Oh Mrs Weasley is a great witch!" the elf beamed with tears in her glassy eyes.

"Oh, stop it! You can call me Molly!" she said and led the elf into the living room.

"Well, I guess it's time for bed then kids! Early start tomorrow!" Mr Weasley told them.

"Urgh, don't remind me!" Bill groaned causing Ron and Ginny to laugh gleefully.

"Nasty little buggers!" he muttered before picking Ron up and lugging him up the stairs.

Lana and Charlie laughed as they ascended the stairs themselves and entered their separate bedrooms.

…...

The next morning was in one word, hectic. Charlie and Bill scrambled over the house at the break of dawn finding various items they had yet to pack.

Lana however had packed the night before and sat watching them amusedly as she picked at her breakfast.

"Not hungry dear?" Molly asked the girl.

"Nah, anxious about going back to school." Lana told her honestly and took a sip of pumpkin juice.

"There's nothing to be worried about dear, your only in first year." Lana suppressed a smile about the level herself and Charlie were actually working at and swallowed hard.

"You would think, wouldn't you?" she muttered and her thoughts trailed back to the Warriors wand.

The ultimate sacrifice was obviously death. But who would she die for when it came down to it.

Definitely Charlie, Tonks and Noah. Probably all the Weasley's. Her grandfather? She figured only time would tell.

"Come on now? I know you regret being sent away but your safe at Hogwarts, there's no safer place. Nothing evil can get in!" Mrs Weasley said exasperatedly bringing her back to reality.

"What if they're already in?" Lana retorted as politely as she could.

Mrs Weasley didn't reply but looked immensely worried.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Weasley. I just don't enjoy school at the moment" she apologised but she knew it was a lie. She felt bad but pushed the feeling away. The last thing she needed was a worried mother going to Dumbles.

"It's fine dear, I don't suppose you have a lot to be glad about." the woman said sadly.

"Well, I have Charlie," Lana smiled.

"Yes you do." the woman smiled back watching the girl carefully. Molly knew she was no ordinary child. An adult trapped in the body of a child. She was tall but very thin. Her face pale as snow and her large green eyes looked almost empty. But there was a twinkle in the corner. Very muck like Albus'. but it was like it wasn't ready to come out yet. Molly sighed sadly and picked Lana's plate up and took it to the sink.

Realizing she could leave, Lana stood and left the room. She swept her dark bangs out of her eyes and climbed the stairs. She needed some place to think before they left.

…...

It was in Ginny's room that Charlie found Lana ten minutes later staring at the ceiling.

"Hey." he said, softly.

"Hey" she replied.

"You okay?"

"No."

He sighed and put an arm over her shoulder.

"It'll be okay, Lana, you just have to sit back for a while."

"Charlie, someone's trying to kill us. Or me." she said shortly. "So for now, I think that sitting back isn't an option."

"You don't know that!" he argued.

"For the love of - ! We had a Merlin knows how old plank of wood just 'fall' on our heads, then? And that Death Eater wasn't looking for me on the train? No he was just taking a nice stroll!" she yelled and stormed out.

Charlie ran his hand through his long hair sighing and chased after her.

He caught up with her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be insensitive" he said holding her back from the hall.

She looked at him strangely and pulled him in for a hug.

To Charlie's surprise when she pulled away she had tears streaming down her face.

"You're a great friend Mr Weasley!" she smiled and wiped the tears away.

"Don't you forget it!" he grinned and they went into the kitchen.

…...

Much to soon it was time to leave. Molly and Arthur said their last goodbye's and, just as Molly predicted, Ginny began screaming.

Nora appeared in a flash and picked the baby up before carrying her into the kitchen.

They grabbed the egg timer being used as the Portkey and spiralled out of the Burrow.

…...

Albus Dumbledore had been sat in his office all morning. He was in deep thought. So deep he hadn't noticed when Minerva had entered the room to bring him some breakfast. He was still baffled by his granddaughters sudden change of attitude. She used to be such a shy and polite girl. Well as far as he could remember. He accepted that she had never really felt comfortable with him but couldn't understand why she didn't respect him.

Of course he didn't want to pull the headmaster card on her, but she might leave him no choice.

Surely by know, she must have known the curse of the Warriors wand. She would die if she kept it. Die for the one she loved the most. That was the way things were going, it appeared like it would be Mr Weasley. But he could deal with that problem when he came to it.

The issue at hand now however, was the example Lana was setting for the other students. As a figure of authority, Albus had always wanted and received respect. But Lana didn't seem to care. If anything, she undermined him and was disrespectful. She would have to be given a reality check. Nobody could outsmart Albus Dumbledore and get away with it. Not even a Dumbledore.

This is why Albus hated his son. They had different ways of thinking. Henry was fun loving and free. He was easy going. Albus wanted power and respect. And then Henry ran away with the Hufflepuff and didn't talk to him ever again.

He wouldn't let this happen with Lana. She would respect his judgement and break the Warriors wand. Or else.

…...

The two Weasley and Lana fell into the entrance hall with a loud crash.

Bill yelled angrily from beside a suit of armour. Charlie muttered something muffled by a house flag and Lana hung from the chandelier elegantly.

She dropped down promptly and straightened her pale blue robes. She quickly repaired the suit of armour and pulled Bill up. They turned to find Charlie swearing from the fabric of the flag. Lana was about to levitate the flag when McGonagall appeared at the foot of the stairs.

"Ten points from Gryffindor for such fowl language, Mr Weasley!" she told them harshly and vanished the flag. Charlie stood with bright red ears and pink tinged cheeks.

"Welcome back Mr Weasley, Miss Dumbledore." McGonagall nodded to the other two and strode away.

"Well, that was dignified!" Charlie muttered embarrassedly.

"Too right, little bro!" Bill agreed and walked away.

"Lovely!" Lana told them and they also began walking.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Charlie asked her after ten minutes of aimless walking.

"Don't know ," she shrugged. "we could walk down to Hagrid's?" she suggested.

"Sure!" he said excitedly and they changed direction back to the entrance.

It took over fifteen minutes to descend the large hill to the large hut at the bottom. The last snow was still frozen into the landscape and walking was a tricky feat.

Finally they arrived to the welcoming warmth and tapped on the door quickly.

"Alright' m'comin!" he boomed from inside. He arrived at the door moments later and quickly let them in.

"How've ya been than, Lana?" he asked as he poured them a cup of tea each.

"Good," she smiled warmly and gratefully took the tea.

"Rock cake?" Lana shook her head politely and restrained herself from giggling while Charlie nodded and took a big bite out of one.

Hagrid didn't seem to hear the groan of pain from Charlie as he bit. Lana had tears in her eyes from trying to hold the laughter back.

"Lovely!" he told them though the pain. Hagrid beamed.

"Heard abou' tha' beam fallin' on ya's and the train o course!" Hagrid boomed. Fang the dog lifted his head up gloomily and whined but shortly fell back asleep after a quick rub on the stomach from Charlie.

"Yeah, some lucky misses there." Charlie told them casually.

"Bloomin death eaters. Rotten bunch, the lotta them!" he said staring into his mug.

"An s'all the good people that suffer innit?" he asked rhetorically.

Charlie and Lana nodded sombrely.

"Of course it were your parents first Lana, then poor Lily and James Potter! And little Harry's been sent away ta' live with the Muggles!" he sobbed.

Charlie sat uncomfortably. Lana patted the half giants arm sadly until she heard the last part.

"IS HE MENTAL!" she screeched.

"Calm down, Lana" Charlie tried.

"No, do NOT tell me to calm down! He's gone too far this time!"

"yeh' not gunner tell Dumbledore ah' yeh?" Hagrid asked worriedly his great forehead wrinkled. "Only, I weren't meant to tell anyone!"

Lana crumbled looking at the crying man.

"No Hagrid, we won't go to him…yet. But I swear to go if there is one more-" she was cut off by an ecstatic Hagrid hugging her tightly.

"Oh thanks Lana!" he beamed.

"You're welcome." she muttered.

"Well, we best be off! Noah and Tonks will be here soon." Charlie said and directed a quietly fuming Lana to the door.

They said goodbye and made their way back up to the school.

"What is it with Dumbledore? Does he think anyone remotely famous should be kept as far away from real life as possible?" she asked angrily as they reached the school.

"No, I think he's seen how strong you are after being trained. Your not afraid to say no to him. So he's sent the boy who lived far away so when he comes to Hogwarts in seven years he'll need a mentor. And he'll go to Dumbles." Charlie said quietly.

"You're really clever!" Lana smiled at him. "And I think your right. But we'll look out for Harry won't we?" she asked.

"No Lana, we won't let Harry potter fall victim to Dumbledore. Can you imagine that? The defeater of Grindlewald up against the boy wonder defeater of Voldemort?" They laughed unreservedly until Charlie shouted in pain.

"What's wrong?" Lana asked worriedly and stopped walking.

"Those bloody rock cakes! I thinks I cracked my jaw." he told her and very disgustingly stuck a finger against his gums. When he pulled it out it was indeed covered in blood.

"Come one then, lets go to Poppy!" she sighed and lead them up to the third floor.

It didn't take long for Poppy to fix Charlie's broken teeth and soon they were able to walk back up to the Gryffindor tower ready for a sit down.

…...

Tonks and Noah didn't return for another hour and when they entered the common room Tonks had an ice pack covering half of her small pixie face.

"What've you done now?" Charlie asked tiredly.

"Well, hello to you to." she mocked.

"Sorry, hello." he said dryly and smirked. Lana glared at him which quickly shut him up and looked at Tonks' eye.

Lifting up the ice pack she saw a large purple brown ring around her eye that was swollen and sore.

"What did you do?" Lana asked.

"I a … may have walked into a lamppost!" she said sadly.

"Tonks!" Charlie exclaimed.

"I have a good reason actually!" she told them.

" I saw one of those horse thingies." she told Lana sadly.

"Me too." noah informed them both.

"I'm so sorry you guys, I think they're thestrals. You can only see thestrals if you have seen death." Lana said sitting down.

"Yeah," Noah said

"Oh"

"I can't see them!" Charlie whined from the corner.

"OH what a shame!" Tonks shouted as her hair flashed scarlet red.

"Leave it Dora!" Noah tried to calm her but failed miserably and quickly lead Charlie away from the fuming girls.

"How dare he!" Tonks screeched.

Lana just sat as tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew she wouldn't get any sleep tonight.

…...

It was well into the night when Lana decided she couldn't just sit in the dorm anymore. She grabbed a book and dragged her blanket down to the common room. The fire was still glowing lightly as Lana plonked down on the couch with a heavy heart.

She tried to focus on the book but always found herself staring into the dying embers of the fire.

She didn't know how long she was sat there for but after a while she heard footsteps. Thinking it was morning already she turned wearily. But it was still dark outside and a the foot of the stairs was Charlie.

"Nightmares?" he asked and tentatively sat with her.

"Not this time no!" she snorted.

"Why?"

"You have to sleep first to have nightmares."

"Suppose"

Lana didn't reply but found herself looking deep into the fire. The light burnt her eyes and made them water or she was crying. She couldn't tell.

"I'm sorry about earlier" he told her sadly.

"S'ok" she smiled weakly.

He moved closer and let her head rest on his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered shut after a while and the evening out of her breath told Charlie she was asleep.

He knew there were a few hours until breakfast so picked up Lana's book and began to read.

…...

Charlie was reading the final chapter of the book when Lana began to stir. Expecting her to wake up he shifted slightly. She twisted and thrashed on the couch and started digging her finger nails into her forehead. Charlie scrambled to the stairs shouting for help and then retuned to the couch and stroked Lana's hair off her glistening forehead.

There was a scramble heard from up the stairs and soon a mass of people were herded around the couch. Seventh years were running for McGonagall and others were nosing worriedly. Noah and Tonks pushed through angrily and sat with Charlie and Lana.

Suddenly Lana let out a piercing scream. And her head thrashed wildly from side to side.

McGonagall arrived soon and sent the others off to breakfast. The prefects stayed behind one of them made some tea, the other wrote down the symptoms.

"She won't wake up Professor!" Charlie told the head of house anxiously.

"Very well, Greenwood?" she turned to the Prefect writing down. " go and inform Professor Dumbledore that his granddaughter is ill." she sent the boy off and took the tea from the other. Before sending her away too. The prefect had long black hair and huge circle under her eyes. She looked extremely annoyed to be sent away and lingered by the door.

McGonagall passed the tea's around and held one cup under Lana's nose to see if the smell could wake her.

It didn't so she sipped her own before placing it down.

Tonks, Noah and Charlie followed her example and drank the tea.

It tasted off, to Charlie and he felt it trickle down his throat like sludge.

"Eurgh-prof-" he began to froth at the mouth and his eyes bulged widely. There was definitely something wrong with his tea.

* * *

><p>OMG! WTH! is he okay?... who knows?... well I do! and whats dumbles thinking eh? :D pleasepleaseplease review =) pwetty pwese wiv a cwewy ontop? =.= much love,<p>

Hannah x


	16. The Dreamland

Back again :) noticed that I'm missing a few reviews... * wink wink* anyways - Enjoy!

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><p>For once, Lana felt very comfortable as she drifted to sleep in Charlie's arms. She could smell wild flowers and a musky wood. Like a broomstick. Suddenly she was flying, soaring and weaving through the air. Her long dark hair whipping her back as she turned in the sky. She dived down gracefully towards a luscious green forest and dismounted the sleek broom. She wandered through the beautiful deep woodland until the trees began to thin out. Then she came to a clearing. The space got larger and a then there was a house.<p>

The house was enormous, practically a mansion. A serene fountain trickled quietly in front of the entrance and to the left was a small but trim broom shed. The house itself had a total of eight large windows at the front that were surrounded by clean cut grey bricks. The right side of the house was taken over by green vines that coiled up the wall like snakes. The windows were covered by grand red drapes so you couldn't see in but the grand front door had several small glass panes.

Lana stood transfixed. She was home. It was exactly like the photo. Only there was nobody else there. She was all alone. Tears streamed down her face silently as she felt a rush of all emotions ever felt. Sorrow. Pain. Joy.

She couldn't take her swollen eyes off the sight. She stood for what seemed like hours taking in every little detail. But every detail became a nightmare and suddenly she was replaying the last images of her house over and over again. She dug her fingernails into her head willing the memories away. Trying to distract her self she stumbled slowly towards the house. With each step she felt her breathing become heavy and her heart thrashed against her ribcage in anticipation.

She reached forwards and grasped the golden handle. It creaked slightly as it turned and she stepped cautiously into the house.

…...

"Maria? Can you go and get Lana please. We're going to be late for Poppy's." A petite, green eyed woman asked hurriedly as she scrambled in her purse.

The nanny bowed warmly and swept up the grand stairs to retrieve the playing child. The woman pulled her keys out and began fastening her rich green cloak on. She pulled her almost black hair from her neck and checked herself over in the mirror before deeming herself ready.

The nanny returned carrying a small girl. The child's hair was short and black and flew behind her as they rushed down the stairs. She had a teal blue pinafore on with a grey coat and shiny black ballet shoes. The woman took the girl warmly and bounced her on her hip. Lana giggled in delight and surveyed the room. A man entered. He was unbelievably tall with auburn hair and brilliant blue eyes. He swept down and kissed the two girls on their foreheads before pulling his tan cloak on. The woman batted his arm playfully and handed him the child. They left the house.

…...

Lana stumbled against the door. Was that a memory she hadn't been able to summon before. She smiled weakly and clicked the door shut behind her.

Suddenly lights flicked on, the large hall was magnificently lit by a chandelier and marble stairs framed the entrance. Lana gasped. She hadn't seen her home for four years. But she felt like she'd never seen it before.

There were three exits. One was in between the stairs. And the others were to the left and right of the entrance.

There was a rush of wind and miniature tornados of pure light swarmed in the hall. Lana covered her eyes from the brightness and looked away. When she looked back, she saw several ghostly figures.

Her mother and father. Older looking version of her mother and a man with bright green eyes. A kindly looking woman with white grey hair and a blue shawl. A young girl with dark auburn hair and large grey eyes. Lana stared wide eyed and then screamed and screamed. Falling backwards, she stared at each figure in horror. Soon after a mass of red hair appeared. There were two middle aged men stood at the foot of the stairs grinning down at her. She stared in disbelief. They were just like Charlie, but older.

Then right as she thought those words Charlie appeared next to her looking very confused indeed.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" He asked with a frown as he surveyed the scene.

"What happened, how are you here?"

"Don't know! One minute I'm drinking dodgy tea waiting for you to stop screaming. Next I'm in a bloody mansion with a load of ghosts!" he said rather rudely gesturing to the figures.

"Well, its nice to see you to mate!" one of the red-haired men laughed.

"…Uncle Fabian?" Charlie asked with his mouth open like a fish.

"Boy, you grew up fast!" the other man said eyeing Charlie suspiciously.

"Molly feeding you well?" Fabian asked.

Charlie nodded his mouth still hanging open in a perfect 'o' shape.

"Shut you gob, Charles!" Lana hissed. He complied in surprise. The men laughed.

" Our apologies, Fabian and Gideon Prewett. Charlie's Uncles." Gideon said humbly and bowed.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Lana Dumbledore." she smiled.

"We know" they said in sync and winked.

"Well, we need to borrow Charlie for a mo', but I'm sure your in safe hands for now." they told her and lead Charlie up the stairs.

Lana looked helplessly after them, took a deep breath and finally turned around.

"Hello Mum, Dad." she smiled sadly to them.

"Oh my baby! We're so sorry!" Elizabeth Dumbledore sobbed and rushed forewords to hug her daughter.

Henry strode towards her also and pulled his wife away from Lana.

"Hello honey," he smiled warmly.

"Hey, Daddy." Lana cried.

"I don't know how long we have, but we have to tell you our stories, so sit down and we can get through them." Henry told her and lead her into the living room.

She sat down on a large couch and watched as the others filed in.

"There's not much you don't know about us my dear. But you have to do this for us okay…Never let your grandfather into your life. Keep him as far away from you, your friends, their families and your wand as you can." Lana nodded solemnly but didn't ask why.

"Good, now let me introduce you to you mothers parents, this is your Grandma- Anne Potts and your Granddad, William Potts." Her father said over his wife's sniffling.

"It's a pleasure to meet you child" Lana's grandfather bowed his head and her grandmother pulled her into a hug.

"And you!" she beamed.

After making sure they were done talking Elizabeth introduced the other older woman.

"And this is your fathers mother, Delilah Dumbledore, previously Leach."

The white haired woman swept over to Lana and kneeled beside her.

"Listen to your parents, my dear, don't let Albus into your life."

"Okay!" Lana squeaked.

"He's always just wanted power, that's why he married me. My father- Nobby Leach was the Minister of Magic. He needed decent connections." she told her, gravely.

"I mean, after I had your father he barely spoke to me until I was hit with a curse during a duel with a death eater."

"When was that?" Lana asked sadly.

"First month of the war. Your father hadn't spoken to Albus in years. And barely contacted me." she huffed with a slight smirk. Henry shuffled nervously and guilt crept into his sparkling blue eyes.

"Well, needless to say I died."

Lana nodded sadly at her grandmothers fate.

"Yes, and Dumbledore didn't shed a single tear." Elizabeth stormed angrily shaking her small fists.

Lana frowned at the woman who was slightly smaller than herself.

"Quite." Henry agreed furiously. "Anyway, lot's to get through." he sighed and they moved on.

"This is Ariana Dumbledore, your great aunt?" Lana's father told her and introduced a girl who can't have been more than a few years older than her.

"Hello!" Ariana beamed at her niece.

"Hi!" Lana said awkwardly.

"I suppose I should tell you my story then?.." she glanced at Lana's parents who nodded sadly.

"Well, when I was six I was attacked by some muggles after they saw me performing accidental magic. I struggled afterwards. Like I couldn't control my magic when I was emotional. My family was always a very proud one. But Albus was the worst. After my mother died he was forced to look after me. I wanted Aberforth, of course, my older brother, but Albus insisted. Soon after Mother died a boy moved in across the street. Grindelwald." Lana gasped in shock.

"No!" Ariana nodded glumly and carried on.

"They connected instantly and became obsessed. With… conquering the world and claiming supremacy over muggles. But Aberforth confronted them. There was a fright. Albus killed me in his rage."

Once again Lana gasped in horror.

"No bloody way!"

"I don't think he ever meant to. And I believe it still haunts him. But what he planned was evil all the same. It was my death that made him realise that."

The occupants of the room nodded.

"Oh hell."

"Language!"

"Sorry, mum."

…...

Charlie returned moments after grinning wildly.

"You okay?"

He beamed in reply which cheered Lana up slightly.

"Before you leave we need you to do something" Elizabeth asked her daughter and her friend.

"What?" Lana fretted.

"There's a spell we can teach you to rid you of your nightmares. To rid you of us."

Charlie's face sobered and his eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"We are Lana's nightmares! If she performs this spell then she can sleep at night and we can leave."

"Where do you go?" Lana asked biting her lip.

"Away." Her grandmother informed her warmly.

"Okay, show me how." Lana breathed through tears.

…...

After being shown the intricate spell the pair were ready to leave.

Tears poured down Lana's face as she repeatedly hugged her family.

"Give him hell honey!" her grandmother winked at her.

Another hug.

"I don't want to see you here again for a ve-ery long time" her Father told her sternly.

"Why where's here?"

"The space between life and death. The in-between!" he said imitating a ghost and raising his hands spookily.

Lana half sobbed half laughed and hugged him.

"I won't forget any of you!" she told them through tears.

Charlie was also sombre as he said goodbye to his uncles.

Suddenly Fabian and Gideon Prewett were consumed by a blinding light.

"Bye Charlie!" they shouted in unison grinning madly.

Then they vanished and Charlie disappeared too.

"We're so proud of you darling!" Elizabeth gushed.

" I miss you." Lana said quietly. A gust of wind swept through the house and suddenly a whisper swept through.

"It's time to wake up Lana" it was Charlie's voice.

Lana took a deep breath and waved goodbye to her family before they faded from view.

…...

Cold, soft. Where was she?

Lana opened her eyes.

Hogwarts.

She sat up and let out a sob. They were gone.

Charlie appeared by her side and wrapped his arm around her comfortingly.

She wiped her tears away calmly and pulled her pale wand from her covers.

She began to weave the intricate pattern with her wand. And muttered under her breath.

The ones who love us never truly leave us, but nightmares can.

A beautiful white lily appeared in the air. The petals contracted five times before the tops of each petal began to glow and it burnt into a small scattering of ash. Lana waved her wand and the ashes were sucked up.

She placed her wand on the bedside cabinet gingerly before shifting so Charlie could lay beside her. The she let herself drift off into a daydream where she was free and happy.

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><p>wow! how supernaturally... : soo. oh look at that button down there... the one that says review on? its very pretty isn't it? ;)

Hannah x


	17. Trouble and Disguises

Hello, and Enjoy!

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><p>The professor jumped up and banished the froth immediately.<p>

"Charlie?" Noah enquired uncertainly.

"Poison?" McGonagall asked and turned to the door where the prefect still watched calmly. Her lips were curved into a frown and her eyes glinted madly.

She attempted to make a break for it and ran towards the portrait hole but Tonks had wordlessly cast petrificious totalus and she fell to the floor.

Just then Dumbledore entered the room. His cloak billowed behind him and the sparkle in his eyes were gone. He called out for two house elves who disappeared with the prefect and then conjured stretchers for Charlie and Lana.

"Do you need me to accompany you to the hospital wing?" he asked distractedly.

"No, we'll be fine thanks!" Noah hissed angrily and levitated them in front of them.

They hurried to the hospital wing with a still unconscious Lana and a moaning Charlie.

Tonks and Noah were clearly distressed and McGonagall was also worried. Never before had Albus allowed anything of this nature to happen in his school. And now it had happened to his granddaughters best friend.

She sighed sadly as they reached the hospital wings where poppy approached them swiftly and levitated the patients onto the bed.

However instead of checking Charlie she took one look at him and left for her office.

When she returned she had a grim look on her face.

"What?" Noah asked worriedly.

"I've called for professor Snape. I have very little experience in poisons such as this." she told them but as she spoke both teens jumped up angrily.

"No way is he touching him!" Tonks seethed with an evil glint in her usual teal eyes.

"I'm afraid he is Mr Weasley's only hope. He's the only professor who knows the antidotes of such a dark potion."

"Oh I wonder why?" Noah added sarcastically.

"Because unlike you Mr Diggory, my IQ is larger than that of a teaspoon." Snape said dryly from the door.

"However if you wish to let Mr Weasley die, I would be oh. So. Happy. To help!" he said each word harshly.

Noah's face contorted with frustration as the man smirked at him. He nodded timidly and stepped away. Tonks however licked her wrist and all of Snape's greasy black hair jetted upwards. Snape apparently didn't notice and made his way to Charlie's bedside. Once there he pulled out a small vial of silver liquid and tipped it into his mouth. The frothing stopped and Charlie began to breathe heavily.

Meanwhile, Poppy had been tending to Lana. She looked down at the sleeping girl remorsefully.

Lana wouldn't wake up and tears were pouring from her eyes now. Her breathing was shallow and uneven, but for now all they could do was wait.

"Madam Pompfrey, Mr Weasley will be in a coma for the next two to three weeks. After that he should fully recover." Snape informed her coldly and exited the room.

Poppy, Tonks and Noah sat in-between both their beds all day until Professor McGonagall returned and made the youngsters leave.

…...

Two days later, Molly Weasley was sat in the hospital of Hogwarts watching her second eldest son sleep peacefully.

She had been distraught when Albus had informed her of the event but relaxed slightly at the news of his expected recovery.

But she was just as worried about Lana. The girl appeared to be completely fit, though slightly underweight. Yet she had gone into some sort of coma. A never ending nightmare. She almost never stopped crying and when she did she went eerily quiet and looked like a small confused child. Even with her eyes closed.

It was lunchtime in the hospital wing and Molly had sent the others down to lunch after promising she'd keep an eye on them.

It was strangely quiet being all alone. She was so used to Nora or the children being with her all the time she had forgotten what it was like to be alone.

Now as she sat watching the two first years she felt like she herself was in a nightmare. This shouldn't still have been happening.

"All Voldemort's fault." she muttered sadly to herself.

After ten minutes the red haired woman found her self drifting off but woke with a start when she saw a figure sit up bolt straight.

Rubbing her eyes, Molly recognised her son climb out of bed tiredly. He was shivering violently but left his blanket and walked slowly over to Lana's bed.

Then, to Molly's astonishment, he conjured a straight back wooden chair and pulled it up to her bed. He sat on it crossed legged, took her pale, cold hands and whispered something in her ear.

Much to her frustration she couldn't hear what. And watched in amazement as the sleeping girls eye's suddenly cracked open and she slowly sat up. She let out a sob and let herself be hugged by Charlie. Then she wiped away the tears.

Molly looked at them both with the strange feeling of de Ja vu. Suddenly Lana drew a pale cream wand encrusted with jewels from her robes and waved it in an intricate pattern. A white lily appeared. It's petals opened and closed five times and then it burnt into ashes. The ashes slipped onto the bed sheets and were sucked up by Lana's mysterious wand. Feigning sleep, Molly closed her eyes and pondered the odd event of the past few weeks.

…...

Not long after, Noah, Tonks, Poppy and Arthur retuned to the hospital wing to find a trembling Charlie perched on Lana's bed with his eyes closed and his head tilted on Lana's shoulder.

"Charlie moved?" Tonks observed.

McGonagall gave her an exasperated look and Noah sniggered into his jumper to which Tonks turned her head dramatically and huffed.

Charlie, hearing the commotion opened his eyes quickly and focused on Tonks.

"Well done, professor obvious!" he smirked at her. Lana's eyes gently fluttered open.

"How are you feeling?" Noah asked as he pulled up a chair.

"Don't know, fine I suppose." he shrugged.

Molly tutted at his words and pulled a heavy blanket from a spare bed and wrapped it round their shoulders lovingly.

"Same, I must have been really tired." Lana agreed smiling. But the smile never quite reached her eyes.

Professor McGonagall looked incredulous but held her tongue.

"Well, I suspect you'll both be able to leave tomorrow." Poppy informed them and walked briskly to her office and closed the door behind her.

McGonagall too, swept from the room and left Molly and Arthur standing with the four kids.

"Well, we'll let you talk then." Mr Weasley prompted and gently lead his protesting wife from the room.

"So?"

"So what?"

"What actually happened?" Tonks asked lazily conjuring a plush pink chair.

Lana glanced at Charlie.

"We died."

…...

"YOU WHAT?"

"No we didn't! Well, sort of. We visited the realm between the living and dead. We saw, people." Charlie told them .

"I met my parents again."

"I saw my uncles."

"No way!" Noah gasped.

Lana looked up coldly.

"No, we're lying. We've actually been out of it because we wanted to miss potions!"

"Well, I'm sure your grandfather will be pleased to find hear this." a voice said from the shadows. It was crisp and cold.

"Snape." Charlie spat angrily.

"Mr Weasley, It appears you have made a full recovery." he narrowed his eyes and sauntered towards them coldly.

"Yes, isn't it wonderful!" Tonks gasped dramatically and pretended to swoon.

Snape silenced her with a look that could kill.

"However, such a feat is impossible, you've been up to something these past two days and believe me. I'm going to find out what!" he hissed angrily and swept from the room.

"Sheesh!"

"Lucky he didn't hear the first part though!" Noah sighed.

"Hmm. Lucky."

"So, carry on?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well I had a dream that I was flying and I came to this forest so I landed and started walking. But I came to this clearing that kept getting bigger. And that's when is saw it. My house. It was just like in the picture. I felt so sad like it was turning into a nightmare. I just stood looking at it for ages. But it hurt so badly I couldn't stop remembering… everything. But I entered the house and suddenly all these people appeared in the doorframes and the foot of the stairs." she broke off crying.

"Her family" Charlie informed them sadly, stroking Lana's hair.

"That must have been when you screamed." Noah added, thoughtfully.

"Yeah, so not long after I'm just staring at theses people and then all these redheads appeared. And then next thing I know. Charlie appears next to me." she told them

"They told us their stories." Charlie finished for her.

"I met my great aunt Ariana, Dumbledore's little sister. Cause, it turns out that Dumbles and Grindels were like best friends and they had an argument and Dumbledore killed Ariana in his rage."

"Wow."

"Yeah, wow!" Charlie added his forehead burrowed in sympathy .

"But all those people were like in my head… and when we woke up we set them free." Lana said solemnly. tonks ended the conversation with talk of lunch and they soon moved onto happier subjects.

…...

The next morning Lana and Charlie were preparing to leave the hospital wing when there was a creak of the door. They looked up to see Dumbledore stood by the entrance.

"Ah, I'm glad you have both made a full recovery" he sighed contently.

"Although, when Severus told me you were well I was rather disbelieving, Mr Weasley. However it seems you have miraculously recovered." Dumbles said but his accusing tone of voice didn't match his warm smile and twinkling eyes.

Rage flooded through Lana's system. How dare he.

"There's no such thing as miracles professor" Charlie said stiffly.

"No?"

"No, just good old Poppy's caring ward." said Lana proudly defying her grandfather.

"Well, you'll be pleased to know that the prefect who poisoned you has been removed from the school. It turns out she was under the imperious curse. I will of course tell the school tonight and the teachers including Poppy."

Lana realised her mistake. She called Poppy by her first name. Dumbles was bound to make the connection.

Crap.

"Poppy was my mother friend.. Did you know that? I have lots of friends. Did you ever have friends? Other than Grindelwald, that is. You know that mass murderer?" Lana sneered with a look of hatred.

_Well, if I wasn't in for it then. I am now._

Dumbledore's eyes widened with horror. His mouth opened and closed several times. But without word he swept form the hospital wing.

"Laaaaana!" Charlie drew the word out like a chewing gum.

Lana turned with innocent eyes and smiled weakly.

"Oops!"

Lana and Charlie left the ward.

**…...**

The next few days were almost unbearable. The whole castle were gossiping about a supposed argument between the headmaster and his granddaughter. This was often confirmed by point being deducted by Dumbledore himself.

Although the headmaster never spent too long outside his office he was becoming prone to dishing out punishments and snapping at students who annoyed him.

He made a first year cry.

Lana and tonks spent half an hour trying to tell her it wasn't her fault. Half an hour!

Event the other teachers we sensing a disturbance in the normal peace and serenity of Hogwarts.

After a particularly awkard transfiguration lesson, professor McGonagall asked lana to stay behind.

"yes professor?" she asked sweetly.

"may I enquire why Mr Weasley, Mr Diggory and miss tonks are still here?"

"no, you may not" Lana said ignoring her professors haughty look.

"well, I'm afraid I think you need to apologise to professor Dumbledore."

"why!" Lana screeched in protest.

"ow!" noah whispered to Charlie who nodded and rubbed his ear. Lana shot them a deadly glare and turned back to the professor.

" this argument of yours is disrupting the whole school."

"well, I'm afraid that is not my problem. Its not my fault if Dumbles decided to bring his personal problems to work."

"I'm appalled by your behaviour miss Dumbledore. Your grandfather would never expect this attitude."

"I beg to differ!" tonks inputted in a sing song voice.

" that will be a detention miss tonks"

"Why?" tonks shrugged.

McGonagall stuttered and then looked away.

"detention for all of you, Saturday night - 5 o'clock."

"that's outrageous!"

"the boys didn't even speak!"

"I can report this."

"you can't do this!"

"get out of my classroom!" McGonagall shouted angrily and the door blasted open.

"you won't get away with this, if your working for Dumbles then you'll pay the price." Lana hissed.

"Severus was right, you should have been slytherin!" the professor told her sadly.

…...

"What in the name of Merlin is up with her?" Charlie asked, shocked at his professors behaviour.

"Don't know, but I think we're going to find out on Saturday!" Tonks said, bemusedly.

"We're going?" Noah asked incredulous.

"Well duh! How else will we find out!" Lana looked at him as if he was a small ignorant child.

He gave out a small laugh and they made their way back to the common room.

…...

The week crawled by but finally, Saturday came and the four were eagerly anticipating the detention.

"I'm boreeeeeed!" Tonks whined.

"Really? Is that what you've been telling us ten times a minute for the past hour!" Noah said dryly as he read a book on arithmancy.

"Phaaa! We cant all spend hours reading so we're years ahead of everyone else."

"Hey I'm only three years!, Lana's more!"

She raised an eyebrow to which Lana shrugged and began fiddling with her wand. Suddenly it began raining in the common room.

The mass of students screamed and all tried heading for the exit at the same time causing major blocking.

"Oops" Lana bit her lip and tried countering her spell.

"Finite incantatam"

Nothing.

"Oh well, least we have a disruption now. Want to go out?" Charlie asked holding a copy of the daily prophet over his head.

"Where?"

"Three broomsticks?" Noah interjected.

"We'll need disguises."

"Easy."

Several minutes later Tonks, Lana, Noah and Charlie left Hogwarts looking very different indeed.

Tonks had grown several inches and sprouted long blonde hair. Noah was now a strawberry blonde boy that looked roughly 20 and Charlie had straight jet black hair and thick framed black glasses.

Lana had made her hair into a bob with a full fringe in a pale brown colour with purple streaks and brown eyes. She had also added a few inches.

Together they walked down to the village with several hours before they had to change back for the detention.

The warm pub was welcomed after the bitter January winds and frosty walk.

They entered and found a small table by the fire. They sat and Lana went to the bar to order some drinks.

"Hey, four butterbeers please?" she asked Rosmerta.

"Coming up love," the woman smiled and began getting the glasses.

"I'll bring them over." she smiled.

Lana retuned to her seat and joined in the others debate on goblins- trustworthy or backstabbing.

"Both!" they gave her a look of exasperation.

Rosmerta came over with the tray of butterbeers and placed it down.

"say, where you all from. Can't be Hogwarts 'cause it's not a Hogsmeade weekend."

"Nah, we're home schooled… on a trip." Charlie looked helplessly at Lana who giggled before she could restrain herself.

They all took a swig from the Butterbeers and Lana threw several galleons down.

"Well, we best be off."

Rosmerta eyed them suspiciously.

"D'you have any identification then?"

"Like what?"

"Apparition licence, wand?"

"Yeah, I have my wand." Lana said pulling her wand holster from her robes. She flicked it at the pubs door that swung open with a bang against the wall and the four legged it out of the village.

**…...**

They reached the school and panted heavily as they removed their disguises.

Happy they were back to normal they each preformed a different spell so that they couldn't be traced, secured their mental barriers and entered the school.

Where they came face to face with a furious McGonagall and a fuming Dumbledore.

"Oh crap" Noah muttered sarcastically.

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><p>oh no! whats going to happen? well, i can tell you there's some pretty big stuff coming up! will Lana cope? and whats wrong with McGonagall? :P<p>

well, I have writers block :[ pooh! so inspire me and review :) as always, constructive criticism welcome! XD

Hannah x


	18. It's a Date!

Hello! ready to find out whats happened? I hope you are or you wouldnt be here! anyways-

Enjoy!

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><p>Unable to control herself, Lana burst out laughing.<p>

Charlie, Tonks and Noah turned and gave her a look that clearly told her to 'shut it'. she managed to control herself and followed the two professors up to the headmasters office.

The walk to Dumbledore's study was a long one with the four children exchanging worried glances and suppressed giggles.

They entered the book lined room and Lana conjured the four some plush chairs.

"Imagine my surprise when it starts raining in the Gryffindor common room and the students have to evacuate. And then I find that four of the Gryffindor's first years aren't anywhere to be seen in school. And then imagine my reaction when madam Rosmerta flooed me with news that she has just had four very suspicious looking teenagers in her pub that ran towards the school upon questioning." Dumbledore said angrily.

" I cannot begin to explain how furious I am at you Lana." Dumbles started and gave his granddaughter his best look of disappointment.

"Likewise." she smiled at him sweetly.

"Do you have any idea how many rules you have broken?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm very sorry but your actions will have consequences." he sighed gravely and turned to Tonks. " Miss Tonks, you are herby suspended from Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry."

"LIKE HELL I AM." Tonks burst out laughing.

She tried to protest further but found no words coming out. The old man turned to Noah.

"Mr Diggory, you are herby suspended from Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry."

"Mr Weasley-"

"YEAH, we get it!" Charlie growled.

" I am utterly ashamed. Never in my role as head of Gryffindor have I had three of my students suspended. And in first year!" McGonagall gasped.

"Can I ask, on what grounds are you punishing them?"

"Being caught in Hogsmeade- A. on a non Hogsmeade weekend and being underage."

"I was under the impression that we weren't caught." Noah muttered at the floor.

"Aha! So you admit it!"

"No."

Suddenly Noah's face contorted with rage.

"I thought we told you to stay out of our minds!" he growled in a dangerously low voice. Dumbledore hadn't the decency to look ashamed and simply said.

"It's my business to know where you have been."

"Nowhere!"

"I'm afraid I don't believe you."

"So, what happens to me?"

"You will be dealt with after your friends have left the premises at precisely ten on Monday morning" he said curtly.

…...

The detention was cancelled and the four left the study to pack up ready for Monday morning which arrived far to quickly. By that time the whole school had heard the news and were entirely appalled.

"He won't get away with this!"

"S'fine.. I'm missing a potions test next week!" Tonks beamed.

"I'm gonna miss you!"

"I'll see you soon!" tonks sniffed as she folded up her jumpers.

"I know!" she smiled weakly in reply.

Lana got up of her bed and held her wand up to the door where Amie's drawing was. She made another copy and handed it to Tonks.

"Here."

Tonks took it warmly and consumed her best friend in a big hug. Elena and Amie had been told of their situation last night and had said their goodbyes in the morning. Lana had not been excused from lessons but skipped them anyway. As Tonks pulled away she tripped over her feet and fell backwards onto her bed.

"Luck-y!" she said dramatically.

Lana burst out into manic laughter.

"Tight, I'm ready!" Tonks said sadly and heaved a heavy trunk off her pink bed.

Lana sighed and helped her carry the trunk down the stairs where they met Charlie and Noah heaving their won trunks through the common room.

They waited by the portrait hole.

"It's weird when there's hardly anyone here!" Charlie commented on the absence of other students as they were all in lessons.

"So, what's gonna happen to you?" Noah asked Lana.

"He can't expel me cause I'd expose him to the ministry for his plan to take over the world and break into our minds."

"Cool!"

"I'll get you back!"

Charlie smiled and gave her a 'one minute' sign before disappearing through the portrait hole.

He reappeared a few seconds later.

"Where did you go?"

"You'll find out." he winked at her and made her feel slightly uneasy. She knew that it wasn't just Fred and George with a mischievous streak.

"A-anyway, what will your parents be like?" Lana asked worriedly. She felt guilty that they had to leave because of her.

"Mine will be appalled." Noah laughed. "my Dad's head of magical creatures and thinks I should be top of every class."

"You are top of every class!" Tonks told him.

"No I'm tied with Lana!" he protested.

"Okay, what about yours?" Lana nudged Tonks and Charlie.

"My parents will be fine with it. They wanted to home school me anyways." Tonks shrugged

"Really? Why." Noah asked.

"They thought I wouldn't have any friends because of my abilities."

"Tosh!" Lana giggled.

"Yeah, and my Dad will be fine but mum'll go barmy until I explain why." Charlie told them happily.

"I can't believe your all being so calm about this!" Lana cried out after a few minutes of silence.

"This isn't your fault Lana!" Tonks told her and draped her arm over Lana's shoulders.

"Yeah! Besides, they won't get away with this. We have a great case against them."

"Well, I suppose" she smiled sadly.

The portrait of the fat lady swung open and revealed professor McGonagall.

"It's time to leave the premises." she said shortly and left the common room beckoning the others to follow her. Which they did. Noah walked out with his head held high. Charlie strode with pride. And Tonks and Lana hung behind a little skipping like seven year olds.

The entrance hall was mainly empty. A few pupils were scurrying across with forgotten books on their way to second period.

The creaking of the huge doors were heard as Mr Weasley, Mr Diggory and the Tonks' appeared at the front doors.

Tonks, Charlie and Noah began to say goodbye to Lana and walk over to their parents when they heard a scream. Amie and Elena were running down the grand hall and raced towards them.

"Sorry professor we had to say goodbye!" Elena gasped and rushed to hug Tonks.

Tonks smiled warmly and muttered a few words into their ears to which they grinned manically.

"Well, off the second period then." the Transfiguration teacher said sternly.

They put on their best glum faces before departing for Herbology.

"Well, best be off then. Come on Charles. Bye Lana!" Mr Weasley said brightly before grasping his sons shoulder and steering him out of the hall directly avoiding McGonagall's gaze.

"Bye Mr Weasley, Bye Charlie!" Lana said as happily as she could through teary eyes.

Then they were gone.

"Well, you must be the famous Lana, then." Mrs Tonks said, kindly.

A pink tinge rose on Lana's pale cheeks and she looked down in embarrassment.

"Of course, your return to the wizarding world has been in all the papers! Except the quibbler of course but that's always more bothered about gargles or whatever there called" the dark haired woman rambled.

"What!.. I'm not in the papers"

"Of course you are! You're a Dumbledore"

"Who gives a damn about the family you come from?"

"The world does!" Tonks inputted sadly.

"Why haven't I noticed then! There's always paper lying around." Lana protested. She glanced at Noah who gave her a small nod. She understood this to mean 'I have it worked out'.

So she said no more and said goodbye to tonks before they too left Hogwarts.

"Sorry about that, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Diggory." she smiled politely at Noah's father.

"And you, Miss Dumbledore." he bowed his head politely.

McGonagall tutted impatiently as she tapped her foot.

"Well, we better go then." Noah suggested, awkwardly.

"Yeah, toodles!" Lana smiled and gave him a quick hug.

And then there was one.

Lana hadn't thought about how she would cope at school without Tonks. She was her best friend.

She sighed as she watched the two male Diggory's leave the grounds of Hogwarts.

"Well, best be off then." Lana prompted and began to walk away.

"Not so fast, Miss Dumbledore. The headmaster want to see you."

"I'm afraid I will not go into a meeting with Dumbledore without a.."

Back up? Nah, she'll think we're gonna duel…erm…I know!

"Witness" she finished.

"Your such a difficult child, very well. Who?"

"Erm…..I'm gonna go with Amie!" she smiled.

The teacher nodded curtly and sent a patronus to Professor Sprout telling her to send Amie up.

The grey eyed girl hurried from the greenhouses and panted at Lana when she arrived.

"What's going on?"

"I need a 'witness' for my meeting with the headmaster."

"Oh."

They followed the transfiguration teacher up the several flights of stairs and through the old castle.

They came to the stone gargoyle.

"Ice mice!" McGonagall said as professionally as she could over Lana and Amie's giggling.

They entered the office with their heads held high. Lana pulled out her wand and conjured two comfy armchairs with floral pillows as well. They sat down in unison and smiled.

"Well, You know why you're here Lana."

"I do?"

"Lana! Your have completely abused your place in this school. You have broken nearly all the school rules and attacked a teacher!" he told her steadily.

"You've abused your position as well, you attacked our minds." she counter argued.

"Well, it seems we have come to a standstill."

"Indeedingtons." Lana nodded. "However, there is still the issue of my friends."

"What about them?" the old man tilted his head in thought.

"When can they come back?"

"Not for a while my dear."

"Don't 'dear' me! I want to know why they got kicked out!" she hissed at the white haired git.

"They were excluded for leaving the school without permission."

"That reason is not good enough." she snarled ignoring a very scared looking Amie sat beside her.

"It is for the board of governors." Dumbledore protested meekly.

"Well, they can suck it! It was my idea, so you can crawl back inside your hole. Bring the others back and expel me!"

" Come my dear, you know I can't do that." Dumbledore said with a forced calmness in front of Amie.

"Why?"

"The rumours it would start. Our reputations are at stake."

"Worried about the press are you? I'd say they've had more than enough stories spread about me!"

"I assumed you hadn't seen them."

"I hadn't. what was it… notice-me-not charms?" I asked as the answer dawned on me.

He nodded gravely.

"You're pathetic."

"Your not old enough to cope with the pressure of being famous, my dear. I had no choice!" he explained looking down at the girls like they were toddlers.

"What a load of crap!" the room went silent. Both Dumbledore's thinking furiously of a way to win the argument.

Lana could only think of one. But it was the last solution.

"Look, I'm going to ask you one last time. Bring the others back and forget all about this." she said through gritted teeth.

"I can't do that." Lana fists balled. Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared dangerously.

"Well then, Albus Dumbledore- I challenge you to a wizards duel on the First of February in the great hall at exactly 12 o'clock. With Charles Ray Weasley as my second." she added for good measure.

"What are your terms?"

"If I win, Noah Diggory, Charles Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks return to Hogwarts to complete their educations along with myself. If I lose then we all leave the school and I wont be your problem anymore."

Dumbledore's brilliant blue eyes had lost their twinkle and flicked severed times as he began thinking of a way to get out of it. After a few minutes it appeared he had nothing.

"Severus shall be my second." Dumbledore said resignedly.

"It's a date.! Good day professor McGonagall," Lana muttered as she and Amie left the office.

…...

"That was amazing!" Amie gasped as they reached the great hall. Lana gave a small smile but was more distracted by her plan of action.

"Right, spread the word about the duel. We need as many people as possible to find out. I want a crowd." Lana told her miserably.

This has to work, I have to show Dumbles up otherwise I'm gonna get very badly hurt.

They got to the Gryffindor table. All eyes were on Lana.

"I'm on it!" Amie said loyally and began muttering to Elena really quickly who got up and raced over to her friends at the Hufflepuff table.

"Wow!" Lana laughed.

"Your looking at Hogwarts master gossip here!"

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you!" they laughed and Lana grabbed a slice of bread and stuffed some ham into it before saying.

"Right I need to read those articles, I'll see you later."

"M'kay" Amie said muffled through a sausage.

Then Lana turned on her heel and strode out of the great hall fully aware of all the students watching and whispering hurriedly.

…...

Back in the common room, Lana began collecting up all the old daily prophets and soon had a nice little pile to sort through. The first few seemed like they had nothing of interest in. Just an article about the new first years. But she soon came across an article and opened it with eagerness.

_The unexpected happened yesterday evening at the Hogwarts sorting feast when the long since missing Lana Elizabeth Dumbledore returned to the wizarding world. Albus Dumbledore, the well respected headmaster of the school had yet to make a comment on his granddaughters return and isn't expected to either._

_As expected, the young girl was sorted into Gryffindor after her fathers side leaving many Hufflepuff's disappointed. With the return of Miss Dumbledore many beg the question will the arguments return._

_The disagreements between Henry Dumbledore (Lana's father) And Albus Dumbledore were well publicised and many were shocked after his unfortunate death three years before the fall of 'He who must not be named'._

_The Dumbledores, though once a well respected and happy family were ripped in two after the quarrel and then with the deaths of Henry and his wife Elizabeth many are wondering whether Lana may be able to help the Dumbledore's start anew._

_Me, Myself and I want to know._

_Written by Rita Skeeter 24._

Lana threw the paper down angrily. How dare they!

Yeah, I'll help the Dumbledore family gain respect.

Lana snorted in disgust and burnt all the papers in her sight.

Realizing she had burnt a fifth years homework, she quickly collected her things and tip toed out of the tower.

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><p>can you believe it? a duel! i wonder how that's gonna turn out! :P review please :)<p>

Hannah x


	19. Grief and Stress Relief

Hello, Here it is. the almighty duel!

enjoy!

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><p>The days ticked away as Lana prepared for the duel. She had never felt this lonely in all her life. Even when she was alone. She missed Charlie, Tonks, and Noah. And although Amie and Elena were lovely, she thought they were a little to hyper. She missed Tonks. Her clumsy falling out of bed everyday. Or down the stairs or into the lake. She laughed as she thought back to before Christmas when Tonks took a trip into the black lake to visit the merpeople. Accidentally, of course. She missed her bubblegum pink hair and light blue eyes on her pixie face.<p>

And Noah, she missed his curly black hair and his blue eyes and his nose that was always hidden by a book.

And she missed Charlie, the way he upset her accidentally but then made her feel better than before. His brown hair shining red in the sun and his hazel eyes looking deep into her own with worry after a nightmare. She missed his untroubled attitude and his lack of ability to keep school rules.

It seemed without her friends around; Lana had lost her usual persona and had taken to moping around in class and not paying attention. Not that she ever did.

…...

"Class dismissed." McGonagall said sternly from her desk without looking up. Lana glanced up in surprise, tearing her eyes away from the carving of her initials that she was scratching into the desk.

Groaning, she slid her books into her open bag. There was shuffling from the class as they walked out of the classroom completely perplexed as to why they were being let out early.

Lana picked up my bag and then huffed in annoyance when the seam of her bag split and its contents rolled all over the floor.

Go to your happy place.

She dropped to the floor and collected all her items in a neat pile before trying to repair her broken bag.

Suddenly she heard a noise from the front of the room. It was crying. Somebody was crying.

Awkward!

Lana rose slowly.

To her utmost horror and surprise, Lana saw Professor McGonagall sat at her desk dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. The teacher's eyes were red and puffy and her usual stern exterior was gone to reveal a vulnerable and obviously upset woman.

McGonagall look up startled after Lana cleared her throat timidly.

"Miss Dumbledore! I thought you had left." she said trying to hide her sad eyes.

"No, I mean… I wasn't just hiding down there but my bag broke and then I heard… and I thought…"

"You're babbling, Miss Dumbledore."

"Sorry. Are you okay professor?" Lana asked shyly. Sure, McGonagall had never really been nice to Lana, or supported her, or stuck up for. But at times like these sometimes it was nice to be nice.

"I'm well Lana, I received some sad news last week and I'm afraid it shall take some time to get over." the teacher said calmly.

"You want to talk about it?" I asked kindly.

The transfiguration teacher looked at Lana strangely.

"You know Lana, your father was one of my favourite pupils." she smiled weakly.

"I thought you didn't have favourites?" Lana asked cheekily to which McGonagall smiled sheepishly.

"Of course, it rather annoyed Albus that Henry would confide in me while completely ignoring him. But it never bothered me." Lana smiled. " You're a lot like your father, Lana but knowing both of your parents to be well behaved and respected members of the community I struggle to see where you became so - mischievous." the woman said while shaking her head.

"Who knows, but I'm betting it wasn't Dad's side." I laughed feebly.

McGonagall smiled and looked down sadly.

_Man, she's all over the place!_

Lana smiled again confusedly and conjured herself a chair. She pulled it next to the teacher's desk and sighed.

"You know professor, you're only human." Lana said quietly.

"We must embrace pain, and burn it as fuel for our journey."

_Pulling out quotes now, well really!_

"I'm sorry for your loss." the young girl whispered. McGonagall looked up in surprise with tears glistening in her small eyes.

"How did you know?"

"I've lived through it." Lana replied sombrely.

"If your going through hell, keep going." McGonagall said more to herself than Lana.

"Do you mind if I enquire who, professor?" Lana asked.

"You know, at times you can be so boisterous and happy, but when you want to you act like a real Dumbledore." McGonagall chuckled. "I suppose you'll find out anyway." she sighed conclusively.

" It was my husband, Elphinstone Urqhuart, he was bitten by venomous tentacula plant. The wound proved fatal. He died." she finally told Lana with tears leaking from underneath her glasses.

"I'm so sorry professor." Lana told her sincerely.

"You didn't bite him." the teacher replied bitterly. "Lana, we'd only been married 3 years. I put off being happy, I focused on my career and now where am I?"

"You surrounded by people who respect and admire you." Lana inputted warmly.

"I just want you to know that… I'm glad you aren't following your grandfathers footsteps."

"Thanks professor!" Lana smiled warmly and prepared to leave. "But remember, Professor Man, when he does not grieve, he hardly exists." and then Lana swept from the room leaving the mourning professor to ponder her words.

…...

February the first was slowly approaching and Lana became more bored with every minute. Although Amie and Elena had welcomed her to stay with them whenever, they just were not the same.

She was walking absent-mindedly to the owelry to send a letter to Charlie, it was late Thursday night and she had just come from potions, which always put her in a bad mood.

"Not to mention the loneliness." she grumbled to herself.

She hummed a sorrowful tune as she tied her letter to Icarus' leg and waved him off into the sunset.

The letters that Lana and Charlie had sent each other were short and precise.

Although she had mentioned the duel between herself and her grandfather, she had forgotten to mention that he was her second. So when the first of February came, and the three suspended students stepped out of the Gryffindor fireplace, Lana was extremely nervous.

However, she couldn't help herself and when she saw the fireplace flash green she lunged off the couch and flung her arms around the person had had emerged.

"Nice to see you too!" Noah said dryly as Lana pulled away.

There was a loud scream as Tonks appeared in the fireplace in a cloud of green and tripped over the hearth.

"You better win this duel, Lana because my parents are crap teachers!" she said into the carpet.

Noah and Lana sighed before heaving her off the floor with an arm each.

"Ow. Thanks" Tonks beamed and plonked down on the couch.

"Charlie here?"

"Not yet" Lana fretted.

Then as if on cue, Charlie appeared in the fireplace and stepped out gracefully.

"Well done!" Lana beamed.

"It's not hard." Charlie frowned at the fireplace. He felt like he was missing something.

Tonks scowled and hit Lana playfully.

"Right we off then?"

"We have half an hour yet?"

"I know, but I want to get set up" Lana told him before adding. "You probably want to too!" she glanced nervously at Charlie.

He coughed and spluttered. "Why me?"

"Oh, did I not tell you? You're my second." she smiled and hurried away.

"Lana!" he called after her but she didn't turn around.

"Oh, hell."

…...

They reached the great hall where the house tables had been moved to the sides and one table was set up in the middle with ropes around it to allow space for the seconds.

They ducked under the ropes and conjured some chairs.

"Look, Lana I can't be your second! I can't face Dumbles!" Charlie whined.

"Too late now my friend." she shrugged.

He gave out a sigh of despair and began going over spells with Noah.

Lana began breathing heavily.

"Hey calm down Lana!" Tonks soothed.

"Sorry, just nervous." she sighed.

A crowd of students entered the hall and began standing outside the ropes in anticipation for the fight.

Then the doors opened. Dumbledore walked in and looked shocked to see the mass of students.

"Sheesh, its only what everyone has been talking about for the last few weeks!" Lana laughed to herself.

She took her cloak of. As she need to be able to move around freely Lana had chosen to wear her muggle skinny jean and black vest top with a, now discarded, grey cloak thrown over .

She wore small black plimsolls with multicoloured laces and had her dark hair tied into a loose bun.

She had spent an hour the night before polishing her wand and freeing it of the finger marks it had gotten over the past few months. She felt like she was ready for anything. Apart from this.

She hoped her training would pay off.

She clambered up onto the table and surveyed the hall. It seemed like nearly every pupil had attended.

She pulled a loose strand of hair behind her ear and took another deep breath as she stared up at the grey clouds of the enchanted ceiling.

Looking back down she saw tonks and Charlie handing out 'Go Lana!' flags and Noah weaving his wand and creating banners that glided over everyone's heads.

She saw Poppy setting up a stand for injuries and the teachers, including McGonagall, conjuring chairs for themselves impressively. Lana caught her head of houses eye and nodded warmly. The professor smiled weakly back and waved a very small but obvious 'go Lana' flag.

Lana giggled in spite of herself.

She stopped, however when she saw her grandfather sitting and watching rather amusedly with only a hint of worry in his eyes.

The clock struck noon. Lana rolled her shoulders as Albus stood on the table.

The walked. Each step hit on the wood like a drum in the deadly silent hall.

Nearly there

She reached the centre. Preformed a small bow and then turned on her heel and strode back to the other end where Tonks and Charlie were cheering wildly in the quiet causing many students to turn and look at them. Noah was shuffling away as if he didn't know them.

They didn't care.

Lana reached the end of the table and drew her wand.

Dumbledore remained still. Waiting for her to maker the first move.

She did.

Firing endless streams of jinxes and charms. Nothing to major … yet.

But it appeared Dumbledore had chosen to wait for Lana to tire out and produced a very strong shield and Nothing seemed to be breaking it.

She moved onto curses. One broke his shield. A cutting curse. She watched as it sliced his cheek. The crowd gasped in horror. But the furious first year ignored them and continued firing curses.

Dumbledore too began firing with a new rage.

He abandoned his shield and began throwing out a complicated curse but not before,

"STUPEFY." Lana roared and flung the spell at him with all her might.

It caught him by surprise as all her other spells had been silent. But he dodged it and then too changed his tactics to simple yet effective curses.

She hit him again with the tickling charm to which she gave Charlie a slight smirk remembering the incident over Christmas.

"EXPELLIARMUS!" Dumbledore shouted and the red beam hit Lana in seconds. Her wand flew up into the air and dropped into Dumbledore's open hand.

Taking her chance, Lana threw out a wandless spell.

"INCARCEROUS!" she screamed at him and he was instantly bound by ropes. They wound around his arms and chest tightened around his ankles and swivelled around his neck.

She let go when she was sure he couldn't get out. Then she walked down to his end of the table and conjured a wooden post, pushed his against it and bound him to that.

With eyes full of venom and hatred she conjured rows and rows of logs. Then "incendio" she muttered the curse for fire. The logs roared in flames instantly.

The crowd screamed and shouted in horror thinking the professor was in real trouble.

But Lana knew he wasn't in pain. She had cast the flame freezing charm.

She walked up to the fire where the wide eyed old man was staring at her in fear and disappointment.

"Never underestimate me again!" she snarled in disgust and walked away towards the mass of students.

She didn't look back to see the other professors begin to extinguish the fire and untie the ropes.

"I believe I won then?" she called back to professor McGonagall who nodded curtly but had a small glint of amazement in her eyes.

Tonks 'Woohoo'd' into the hall and the other students burst out laughing.

"Well better go and unpack then!"

"Aw, you could have hurt him. I'd like to see you duel with Snape!"

"Congrats"

"Well done!"

Several people patted her back as they left the hall and Lana felt on top of the world.

…...

That night, Lana, Tonks, Amie and Elena were curled up in their armchairs with hot chocolates.

"I can't believe you set the headmaster on fire." Elena gasped.

Lana just smiled meekly. It had been a long day.

"And got three suspended students back into school!" Amie added thoughtfully.

"Thank Merlin!" Tonks laughed and tipped up backwards in her chair spilling her drink everywhere.

"Ow!" she said with her legs hanging in the air.

They pulled her up and did the usual check for concussion before deeming her well and cleaning up the spilt hot chocolate.

"Well, better get some sleep, there's lessons tomorrow!" Lana laughed nervously. There had been a party in the common room where the boys and Tonks had stuffed themselves with food and butterbeer. There had been stronger alcohol but Lana had declined politely.

I don't know how Tonks eats so much and stays so skinny!

The others clambered into their beds and said goodnight but Amie appeared at Lana's bedside with a scroll of parchment tied with a small red ribbon.

"Hey, I drew you another picture." she smiled weakly and handed her a rolled parchment before walking back to her won bed, climbing in quietly and rolling over.

Lana unrolled the parchment skilfully and saw a detailed drawing of Lana, Charlie, Tonks and Noah.

Lana was brandishing her wand dangerously at Charlie who was brushing his fringe form his deep brown eyes and smiling mischievously. Tonks was sat on the floor , having just fallen over and beaming with Bright pink curls, and Noah was looking over a large leather bound book from his favourite armchair.

Lana recognised the scene. It was a few weeks after school began and the four were in the common room when Amie and Elena walked into find them exactly like that. Charlie had just been tickling herself and Noah had just tripped Tonks up.

She smiled to herself and pinned the drawing up on her bedpost before pulling her duvet up to her chin and drifting off to a nightmare free sleep.

…...

The next morning Lana woke to the welcomed sound of Tonks falling out of bed.

"Morning!" she smiled brightly and helped her off the floor.

"Your in a good mood!" Tonks observed as she got up and began rummaging in her drawers for some uniform.

She pulled out a random pleated skirt and wrinkled shirt and yanked them on.

"Heard of an iron?"

"No.." Tonks wrinkled her brow in confusion.

"Of course not… sorry forgot you're half-blood." Lana smiled apologetically before pulling her own drawers open and collecting some skinny trousers and three quarter sleeved shirt.

She dressed quickly and added a loose grey cardigan for good measure as the castle was still very cold. With her Gryffindor tie hanging around her neck, she waited for Tonks to finish getting dressed while making the odd comment such as-

"Hats go on your head, Tonks" and "No, socks aren't earmuffs."

Soon she was ready and they began the walk down to the great hall for breakfast. The hall had been repaired the night before and the four tables were all back in place. Along with the mass of students sat at them talking excitedly about the night before.

"Did you see the fire?"

"That cutting curse!"

"-Spells so quickly-"

"-Full of hate-"

Snippets of conversations filled the girls ears as they walked down to their usual spots at the Gryffindor table.

"Morning." Charlie greeted them casually.

"Hey- sup?" Tonks asked as she plonked down next to a weedy fourth year who was listening in rudely.

Charlie looked up but didn't meet their eyes. Instead he pushed a copy of the daily prophet in front of them and Lana snatched it up.

_Enquiry at Hogwarts._

_Member of the auror department were shocked yesterday evening after receiving news from the department of mysteries that a duel had taken place at Hogwarts between The headmaster and his granddaughter._

_The auror department were sent over immediately to find out what happened. The report that came back was a bad one._

_'It is reported that yesterday morning a duel between Lana Elizabeth Dumbledore and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore took place in the great hall in front of nearly all the students. This was unexplainably dangerous and incredibly foolish. There will be a full enquiry into the matter and aurors will be placed at the school until we can fully assure parents that Hogwarts is a safe environment to learn in and not a place for old quarrels.'_

_This begs the question- Does the young Dumbledore share the same dislike of her grandfather that her own father did, or is she just attention seeking to make up for her being missing the past four years and assumed dead._

_Calloway Nott, son of recently convicted Death Eater gave us his views._

_'The whole thing was appalling, The M******d was obviously just attention seeking, she should be locked up. I mean, Who the hell sets their headmaster on fire?'_

_Mr Nott was formally reprimanded for his language and fined 20 galleons._

_It appears that Miss Dumbledore has made several enemies in her time at Hogwarts. But has also many friends including been son of the head of misuse of muggle artefacts 'Aaron Weasley.'_

_'Charlie (Weasley) has been a faithful friend to Lana since I've known them as well as (Nymphadora) Tonks and Noah (Diggory). They go everywhere together, they're amazing people!' Roommate Elena Sheppard says._

_Are we seeing a possible romance for the future?_

_Me myself and I want to know._

_Rita Skeeter 24_

Tonks scowled at the use of her first name.

"Aw! Doesn't Dora like her first name?" Charlie grinned.

She kicked him under the table so hard his Brown eyes watered.

"Oops, didn't mean it to be that hard!"

Lana looked up and glanced around the room nonchalantly.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 … 8 aurors positioned around the hall. Two by the doors, three by the teachers and one at the end of each table.

She saw noticed Dumbledore wasn't at his table but ignored it.

_'Probably could face the shame_.' she thought smugly.

_Well, he had me trained._

She thought to herself with a shrug.

"So, what we got first?"

"Astronomy." Noah sighed from his book. "Bloody stupid subject!"

"Is not!" Tonks whined crossly and folded her arms.

"Oh don't be so childish!" he muttered not glancing up from his book to which she blew her tongue out at him.

" I saw that." he told her sternly glancing up from his book and giving her a disapproving look.

Lana rolled her eyes and grabbed at a slice of toast before the dishes disappeared.

"Well, come on then. It'll take ages to climb the astronomy tower!" Charlie huffed and grabbed his and Lana's bags so she could continue eating. The crumbed the toast into her mouth and with a muffled 'thank you' took it off him and threw it over her shoulder.

The hall went silent as many heads turned to watch the well known first year and her friends leave the hall.

Lana slowed as hey walked past the aurors and gave the one at the left of the door a small nod before walking up to him.

"Hello, I'm Lana" she smiled kindly.

"Trainee auror Shacklebolt miss." the young man said in a thick Nigerian accent.

"Pleasure. Say you don't think you could tell me what's happening do you?" she asked sweetly batting her eyelashes in an innocent façade.

"No, sorry miss Dumbledore."

"Oh well, at least I tried… right come on guys." she smiled one last time and left the hall hearing another voice on the way.

"Well done, Kingsley, that's one hell of a girl!" the voice said before it was cut off by the doors shutting.

She grinned to herself before departing for the astronomy tower with a buzzing Tonks.

* * *

><p>there ya go! :P what did you think? i cant help noticing i have 14 fave's but only 9 reviews! c'mon guys!<p>

Hannah x

p.s- thankyou to my beta Green lily 96 who's idea it was to put in the thing about McGonagall's husband :'( will she be a future ally? well find out in book ... 5? of the series. ...who knows? .


	20. Flying, Falling and Planning

Hello, sorry for the wait :)

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>The astronomy tower was the tallest tower at Hogwarts, and so it was very fun to walk up…not.<p>

Lana, Tonks, Noah and Charlie spiralled around the tower until Noah stopped abruptly and held his arms out to stop the others.

"What's up?" Tonks whispered a rarity for the loud and clumsy Tonks.

"Listen." he breathed and pointed at a tapestry up the stairs.

They listened, and sure enough they could hear the muffled voice of Calloway Nott.

Sighing, Lana decided legitimency was the way to go and searched for the sick mind of Nott.

_'Stupid blood traitors, I'll get them for what they did to my father, and me! How dare that stupid paper fine me for telling them the truth! They should lock the Dumbledore bit-"_

Lana pulled out.

"I think he's going to jump us." she breathed to the others who immediately pulled out their wands.

"How many?" Charlie asked with a glint of malice in his eyes.

"Dunno-2 or 3 maybe?" she guessed as she listened to another voice join the conversation.

"Right, here's the plan." Charlie began telling them the strategy he just thought of. And a minute later, the four carried walking up the stairs like normal.

They reached the tapestry that Nott and his cronies were hiding behind. It swung open and 2 chubby slytherins burst out with there fists raised. They went to punch Charlie only to find their fists go straight through him.

The 'Charlie illusion' turned and walked towards the wide eyed slytherins who promptly screamed and ran down the tower.

Struggling to fight back the laughter, the real Charlie stepped out of the shadows with Noah and banished the illusion.

Noah ducked under the wall-hanging and stood to the right of it, Charlie to the left. Tonks and Lana joined stood in front and knocked politely.

"Avery? Goyle? Did you do it?" Nott asked fearfully from behind the tapestry.

"Yeah, we're all unconscious and bleeding internally." Tonks replied cheerfully.

The tapestry swung open revealing a terrified Nott.

"S'up Calloway? Bodyguards gone walk about?"

"You think you're so tough. Well beat these blood traitors!" he sneered and pulled his wand out. But he wasn't quick enough.

"Pertricus Totalus" Tonks said lazily as Lana pulled the disarming spell.

With a snap of his limbs as they clapped against his weedy frame, Nott fell forewords and was caught by Charlie and Noah.

They leaned him up against the wall and placed his wand in his robes.

"See ya' later!" Tonks told him and skipped off to astronomy.

"Yeah, bye honey!" Lana agreed and ran after her.

The boys shook their heads in disdain and followed the exited girls.

The lesson flew by, when the four left astronomy they weren't shocked to see Nott being removed by a furious Professor Snape. They walked past quickly and avoided their gazes until.

"Dumbledore!... Detention tonight at 6." he sneered as they turned the corner. She let out a long sigh and carried on.

"What a rat bag!" Charlie hissed at the ceiling.

"Leave it Charlie, it doesn't matter!" Lana groaned. An evening with Snape. Just what she needed.

"Ah, come on. Flying lesson next!" Noah said excitedly. The lessons had been postponed till after Christmas due to the bad weather.

"We can already fly though!" Charlie muttered.

"So? We can just act everyone else!" Lana said.

"…Or we can help the people that can't do it…like me?" Tonks said quietly.

"Oh, of course we can honey!" Lana gasped.

"Yeah, sorry Tonks. I just assumed we could all fly" Charlie told her dolefully.

"S'fine." she smiled. "You know how clumsy I am... I just fall off a lot!"

"That's understandable!" Noah laughed and they walked down to the Quidditch pitch happily.

…...

"Hold your hand over the broom and say 'UP'" Madam Hooch instructed.

Lana's broom jumped into her hand first time , as did Charlie's. Noah's rose up a little slower on the second go and Tonks managed to gain her brooms attention on the 3rd time when it soared up and whacked her round the face, Much to the delight of several slytherins.

"Hey! It whacked me accidentally, but you keep sniggering and I'll shove this broom up all your ars-"

"a point from Gryffindor for your language miss Tonks." Hooch said sternly and turned to help a small hufflepuff with her broom.

"I don't see why we can just pick the brooms up." Tonks said irritably.

Lana nodded sympathetically.

Soon they were on their brooms and hovering slightly. Much to Tonks' surprise, she hadn't yet fallen off but was still whimpered every time her broom rose or wobbled.

"You're doing great Tonks!" Noah told her repeatedly.

"Quiet! Right now, get into pairs and we're going to try some short laps okay?" Hooch asked.

Noah and Tonks went together and Lana and Charlie too.

"Now grasp your broom lightly and fly forewords. Bend slightly to the left and you'll turn." Hooch told them the obvious.

They spent several minutes flying in circles until everyone felt comfortable.

"Now, how about a small race?" Hooch asked much to the class's excitement.

"Right lets have … Dumbledore Vs. Weasley first." she said warmly and cleared a space for the 2 to get past.

"Right, to the end of the pitch and back. No fancy manoeuvres just fly!" she warned.

They mounted their brooms and lined up.

"When I blow my whistle then you can go," the professor said and then, The whistle sounded and they set off.

Lana raced down the pitch; she could see she was edging in front of Charlie. She leaned forewords and the broom flew faster.

She reached the edge of the pitch and turned sharply back towards the class. Charlie turned too and had caught up with her in a burst.

"Call it a draw?" she shouted through the wind.

"Sure!" he replied and they raced back to the start in perfect synchrony.

"Congratulations!" Hooch greeted them as they touched down. "That was awfully fast for first years!"

They beamed at her.

"Right, now we'll have …Ah Mr. Nott? I seem to remember you telling me of your skill." she said to Nott as he traipsed across the pitch.

"Yeah, Best in the year group!" he bragged proudly.

"Yes, I'm sure... Very well. Mr Nott vs. Miss Tonks."

Tonks looked faint.

"No professor! Please choose somebody else?" she pleaded.

"My word is final Miss Tonks, now mount your broom!" the teacher said harshly. Tonks turned a nasty shade of green.

Nott's eyes glinted with revenge in mind and he mounted his broom with a smug grin.

"I. Am. Dead." Tonks moaned.

"You'll be fine honey." Lana soothed.

"Yeah, Nott probably can't even get the broom to move."

The cocky slytherin and terrified Gryffindor lined up.

"Ready blood traitor?" he sneered.

"Definitely, scum of the school!" she spat in return. Rage flooded her veins and as the whistle sounded she soared into the distance.

The crowds cheered as they watched Nott fall behind. They stopped when they saw him pull out his wand.

Lana, Charlie and Noah sprung into action and raced after him as fast as the school brooms could take them.

Not fast enough.

Nott preformed a simple trip jinx on the broom and Tonks was flung off it.

Everyone on the pitch heard the crack as she crashed into a post and crumpled on the ground.

Lana chased after her and landed next to her with healing spells on the tip of her tongue.

Noah and Charlie roared in anger at the Slytherin who had just hurt the girl who had become like a sister to them. They grabbed an arm each, heaved him off his broom and flew back to madam Hooch with Nott dangling in-between them.

Meanwhile, Lana had revived Tonks and she, Amie and Elena were levitating her to the hospital wing.

"Lana, my head hurts!" Tonks moaned glumly.

"I know honey, we're getting you to the infirmary now"

"Oh cool! Elena's going to be a healer! Did you know that?" Tonks muttered as if she was drunk.

"No, I didn't." Lana played along.

"Elena's a nice name…so is Amie and Lana. I don't like my name. It's so lo-o-o-o-o-o-ong."

"You have a very pretty name honey, Dora's so cute."

"Oh, it is isn't it…but only Noah calls me Dora."

"We can if you want us to?"

"No. Just Noah. He did even before we met you…its nice"

"Yeah!"

They reached the hospital wing and handed Tonks over to the care of Poppy.

"You go back to your dorms then, you can visit later. She'll need some sleep after this!" Poppy sighed and shooed them out of the hospital.

…...

Later that evening, Noah and Charlie were on their way up to the hospital wing. Leaving behind a sullen Lana who had to go to detention with Snape.

She waved them goodbye and watched as they disappeared down the stairs. She swung the portrait shut and glowered at the fat lady as she attempted to break a glass with the power of her awful opera voice.

Then the infuriated first year stalked up to the girls' dorm to get changed.

Pulling off her heavy school robes, Lana began rummaging through her trunk for clothes.

She found a pair of jeans and an old jumper, got dressed, pulled her dark hair into a pony tail and left the dorm.

She had 10 minutes before she needed to be in the dungeons with Snape so decided to Join Elena and Amie for a spot of Gossip before heading down.

"Oh my God! You know that josh parker in 3rd year Hufflepuff? His sister is dating terry hall that ultra-fit seventh year Ravenclaw!" Elena raved breathlessly glancing around for eavesdroppers.

Amie gasped and began her to impart her wisdom on Elena. Lana sat watching bemusedly. It was nice to just watch people and not be the center of attention for once.

"… Not to mention everything going on about La-" Amie cut off as she noticed Lana sat staring at the floor pointedly pretending not to have heard.

Lana, still pretending to not have heard got up and quickly jetted up the stairs to retrieve her old invisibility cloak.

Returning down the winding narrow stairs fully concealed, Lana crouched behind Amie's arm chair and listened intently.

"- I don't suppose she's realized then." she heard Elena say sadly.

"It's not her fault. I happen to think she's a lovely person. Besides slytherins get what they deserve and it's about time somebody stood up to them!" Amie whispered determinedly.

"Well said and poor Tonks! Mind you though, now we know that Noah is off limits!" Elena giggled.

Lana frowned under the cloak.

How is he off limits?

Apparently Amie was thinking the same thing and asked sweetly.

"Well duh! It's obvious that Tonks fancies him! Didn't you hear her on the way to the hospital wing?" Elena said exasperatedly.

"I assumed that it was the blow to the head talking. Besides they don't exactly match up do they? I mean, he's so quiet and bookish and she's … well she's insane!" Amie reasoned.

Lana nodded to herself and found herself imagining the two as a couple.

_Now, that's ridiculous. We're only eleven years old! There's much more to worry about than relationships now. That's for older people we're still in school. We have lessons and detentions and- oh Crap! I'm late for the Snape!_

Lana scrambled up quickly but careful not to let the cloak slip and expose her position.

She hurried towards the portrait hole where luckily, some 5th years stumbled through stinking of fire whiskey and giggling manically. Lovely. She squeezed past them and then half ran down the stairs towards the dungeons._ Damn this giant school._

She reached the dungeons and glanced down the cold corridor quickly before pulling the cloak off and stuffing it into her jumper.

_And now I look pregnant!_

Sighing she grabbed it out and decided to feed it through the mouth piece of a suit of armour.

After composing herself, Lana knocked on the door of the potions classroom and entered the gloomy and badly lit room.

"You're late." Snape sneered from his desk not even looking up.

_Yeah, and you're a git._

"Sorry, professor." she ground out.

"Sit down, you're going to sort through this new batch of frogspawn for any damaged goods." he told her coldly and summoned the tray of disgusting slimy frogspawn.

"Can't I just use a simple sorting spell?" she asked hopefully.

He glanced up from his work and sneered at her down his long hook nose.

"No magic."

In the dark light of the dungeons, her green eyes became olive and they flashed at him dangerously with much malice.

She forced herself to look away before she got herself into trouble until she came across a problem.

"I need gloves."

"No." the potions professor said shortly.

"Okay. Let me rephrase that. I'm not doing it without gloves." she sang as annoyingly as she could muster.

"Miss Dumbledore. I have seen flies with more respect than you."

"Flies are probably the only things that do respect you…sir." she added skillfully.

Snape's face screwed up like he was in pain and he growled angrily.

"You insolent little girl! I shall have you kicked out of this school if it's the last thing I do!"

"O-kay then. How about this? You kick the bucket and I'll leave the school?" she smiled sweetly.

"GET OUT OF MY CLASSROOM!"

"Gladly, but I actually need to ask you something first." she said utterly unfazed by Snape's shouting.

"What?" he snapped.

"Where. Is. Dumbledore?" she asked. She hadn't seen him all day and was beginning to feel suspicious.

"That's none of your business." he said shortly and attempted to force her from his classroom again.

"See, unfortunately it is my business so tell me where he is."

"He's had to go to the ministry because of your petty duel." he hissed. "did you know that it's illegal to have a real duel with someone under age?" he asked evilly.

"No. doesn't matter anyway because I won."

"It does to the ministry! Are you really so naïve that you didn't think this would have some sort of impact? You're a foolish and selfish child and it's your grandfather who's paying the price!" Snape said furiously.

"Well, I think I'll leave now sir." Lana said gaining as much dignity as she could and turning her back on the greasy haired teacher.

…...

The walk back up to the Gryffindor tower was a long one. One that Lana couldn't bring herself to make. Instead she grabbed the invisibility cloak from the suit of armor and yanked it on without thinking.

She wandered through the old castle mulling over the information she had just received. What was going to happen? Would they find out about her skills? Would she be pulled from Hogwarts?

_There's nothing I can do. I'm only one girl_

_Yeah, you keep telling yourself that._

_Hey!_

_You know what you can do. You're just scared._

_Am not!_

_Am too!_

The battle raged on in her head until she came to her decision.

Looking up, she found herself by the fat lady. She gave a small 'oh' in surprise, shrugged and entered the common room.

There were a few fifth years in the corner and two seventh years staring deeply into each other's eyes by the fire. Lana gave an involuntary shudder and crept past them back up the stairs.

She had a lot to think about.

…...

Pyjamas on. Bed made. Teeth brushed.

Lana got into her warm bed and drew the curtains slowly. Not bothered by the fact it was only quarter to seven.

She lay back against the headboard and thought back to what she'd overheard Elena and Amie talking about earlier.

"It's not her fault. I happen to think she's a lovely person. Besides slytherins get what they deserve and it's about time somebody stood up to them!"

Was she being a bully? She hadn't realized. But they were slytherins…they were humans.

From now on I promise to be nicer to slytherins! She vowed to herself.

And tomorrow I'll tell the others about the ministry visit Tonks and sort everything out with Dumbledore and the aurors.

Then she drifted off to a fitful sleep.

…...

_Beep beep beep beep._

"Shudup!" Lana mumbled at the ornate alarm clock on her pale beech bedside cabinet.

6 o'clock.

She yawned widely and carefully pulled her curtains open to reveal a quiet dormitory. Elena and Amie were still sleeping peacefully and Tonks' bed remained empty after her Quidditch accident with Nott.

_Grr... Stupid Slytherin…no wait. Be nice_.

Heaving the heavy duvet off her skinny frame, Lana twisted and got out of bed. She dressed in her uniform and left the dorm with her bag slung over her shoulder.

Wow, that has to be the fastest time I ever got dressed in!

She snuck down the small spiral staircase and left the common room to visit Tonks.

She walked the four flights of stairs to the infirmary and walked in to find Tonks sat groggily eating a bowl of cereal.

"Hey sleepy!" Lana beamed and plonked down on Tonks' bed.

The pink haired girl glared and stuffed a heaped spoon into her mouth.

"Sorry, grumpy. Merlin, the seven dwarfs always confused me!" Lana laughed nervously.

"I hate this place!" Tonks grumbled glancing up at the mass of white bandages wrapped around her head.

"I know,"

"No you don't! It's horrible and the potions are sickening and the food is awful!"

"It's the same food as what you get in the hall!" Lana told her.

"Oh… well I don't like it." she moaned grumpily.

"Oh, stop being awkward and listen."

"To what!"

"Me big news here." Lana sang waving her arms around.

"Shoot."

"Well, Dumbledore's at the ministry trying to sort this enquiry thing out. There are rumors being spread that I'm bullying slytherins and it was illegal for Dumbledore to duel me causes I'm underage."

Tonks face became even grumpier with every word.

"Oh crap."

Lana nodded.

"Don't worry though. I have a plan." Lana smiled re-assuring her.

Tonks frowned.

"I hope." Lana added for good measure.

"Well what is it?" the girl asked curiously sitting up in her bed.

"Well…" Lana began to inform her best friend of her plans to get the headmaster off the hook.

…...

10 minutes later, Lana left the hospital wing thoroughly more confident than she had felt before and skipped down to breakfast to grab some toast for the boys.

Not many people had made it to breakfast yet and the four tables were mainly empty. Humming to herself, Lana walked to the Gryffindor table and began piling toast into a napkin. Smiling evilly to herself she took out another napkin and spooned some eggs into it.

Some sullen fifth years looked at her like she was insane. She smiled, continued humming and skipped back out of the hall.

Her plimsouls tapped lightly on the stone stairs as she pranced up the stairs.

_Damn, why is the common room so far away!_

She reached the fourth floor and slowed down so she could have a bite of toast. She turned as she heard a familiar sneering voice.

"Having fun blood traitor?" Nott asked sinisterly.

"What are you doing up here Nott, I thought your territory was the slimy dungeons?" she asked tiredly and continued walking.

"You think you own the place now you have your Muggle loving granddad out of the picture!" the blonde haired boy shrugged with a hateful glint in his eye.

"Nope." she just smiled and tried to ignore him but he walked after her.

"Not so tough now are you Dumbledore? Where are your friends now?"

"Here actually!" Lana whipped around once again but this time saw Charlie and Noah leaning against the wall of the fifth floor corridor.

She grinned at them gratefully.

With one final look of annoyance, Nott swiveled away and disappeared.

"Hey!" Lana smiled at the boys. "I was bringing you some breakfast."

Charlie's face lit up and he held his hands out expectantly.

Lana laughed and handed him the napkin of eggs and Noah the napkin of toast.

Charlie opened the napkin and his deep brown eyes drooped.

"I can't eat this!" he said sadly.

"Why not?" Lana asked. He imitated using a fork and stuck his bottom lip out sadly.

"Aw, cheer up!" she grinned and instantly conjured him a fork.

He beamed at her and dug into his eggs.

…...

It was lunch time in Hogwarts, Lana had told the boys of her situation with the headmaster and her solution and both were in agreement.

Therefore, at half past 12. Lana, Charlie and Noah strode into the great hall and straight up to auror Shacklebolt.

"Can I help you Miss Dumbledore?"

"Yes, I want to know where my grandfather is." Lana said politely.

"Perhaps we should go elsewhere?" the man said uncertainly.

"Whatever, I just want answers." she said lazily and followed him through the entrance hall into an old classroom.

"Miss Dumbledore. Your grandfather had been placed in ministry custody after performing an illegal duel with a minor."

Holding back her rage at being called a 'minor' Lana pressed on.

"But I initiated the duel."

"That doesn't matter, the headmaster agreed." the auror said apologetically.

"Codswallop." Charlie inputted.

"And, what will happen to the Dumbledore when he's found guilty?"

"He will most likely be removed for endangering the pupils of Hogwarts." the man said gravely.

"How can we stop this from happening?" Noah asked urgently.

"You'd need a strong case as defence. As far as I know he was planning on being his own defence." the man told them hurriedly.

"When's the trial?" Noah enquired.

"Not been set yet, I'll let you know." the man said and was rushing to the door when-

"Shacklebolt, what are you doing?" a Scottish man asked looking into the younger man's eyes piercingly.

"Taking my five, sir!" Shacklebolt said quietly.

"Report back to duty. I'll talk to you later."

Lana instantly disliked the man. He had long wavy hair of a golden brown colour and a few scars on his sharply featured face.

"Rufus Scrimgeour, Head of Aurors. Pleasure to meet you Miss Dumbledore." the man said rudely.

"And you." Lana replied stiffly.

"Well, I best get back on duty." the man said after a minute. He turned and Lana felt a new presence in her mind. Glancing at the boys they looked at her with expressions of annoyance. Obviously he had tried their minds as well.

"One moment please Scrimgeour?" Noah called him back kindly.

"Yes Mr. …."

"Diggory." Noah filled in for him. "Yes, I was just wondering what you could possibly want from the minds of a couple of 11 and 12 year olds?"

Scrimgeour's eyes bulged. He stuttered and then finally narrowed his eyes.

"I have no idea." he hissed in his thick Scottish accent before sweeping from the room in a swish of green cloak.

Lana and the boys looked at each other nervously before following him out the room.

They crept back to the entrance hall and peered around the corner where they could see Shacklebolt getting a thorough telling off from Scrimgeour.

Sighing, the three first years snuck past with a few apologetic looks at Shacklebolt and decided to pay their pink haired friend a visit.

…...

A few hours later, lessons were over for the day and Lana and Charlie were in a big debate about the Holyhead harpies.

"All I'm saying is, the harpies are decent but would be much better if they let a few men on the team."

"No! The fact that the harpies are all women earns a lot of tourists and money for the quidditch league."

"Yeah, a load of old men ogling girls playing quidditch. Lovely."

"No. That's not the point!"

"Then what is!"

Lana rolled her eyes and turned back to the book on Old wizarding laws she was meant to be reading. They had decided that Dumbledore would need support in his trial and seen as though Lana got him into that mess. She would have to get him out. After all, she may not have like him but he was still family. Her only family left.

She gasped lightly and remembered what Ariana had said when she met her in the abyss.

_'I wanted Aberforth of course, my older brother, but Albus insisted.'_

Aberforth. Was he still alive? Was it possible she had a great uncle out there. Then again. She had also said that her family was proud. Maybe Aberforth was just stuck up and pompous. Like her grandfather.

Well, he was worth tracking down at least.

Pushing away the distracting thoughts, she returned to her book.

"These books are useless! We'll never find anything important about duels unless we get into the restricted section!" Noah huffed and threw down his book.

Lana's green eyes widened. Noah never mistreated book.

_Maybe he's stressed…..missing Tonks?_

She shook the thoughts away and turned back to her book. He was right.

She closed the heavy leather book and placed it on top of Noah's.

"Well, tonight meet me here after everyone's asleep. We'll visit the library!" Lana smiled and walked away

…...

Lana had her hangings closed with only a small gap open which she peeked out of to check if Elena and Amie were asleep.

Elena dropped off first half way through her Herbology homework. Half an hour later Amie followed and a sketch book slipped off her bed.

Lana swung her legs over the side of her bed and slipped into her pumps. She pulled on a neon yellow jumper and blue leggings and tip toed out of the dorm.

Reaching the common room, Lana saw Charlie and Noah sat quietly playing wizard's chess.

"There you are, everyone in our dorm dropped off ages ago."

"Boys." Lana muttered to herself and lead the way to the library.

They had been walking for several minutes. Lana had the invisibility cloak flung over her shoulder but only for an emergency.

They had been walking for a few minutes when they heard footsteps from a distance. Panicking, Lana began to throw the cloak over herself and the boys. The footsteps became louder.

_Oh crap_

* * *

><p>who do you think it is? review and let me know! please check out my profile page for information about the series and as always thanks for reading!<p>

p.s. I realize i have never put a disclaimer onto my work so encase you haven't already realized, I AM NOT J. K. ROWLING! XD

p.p.s. I completely never realized that i hit 20 chapters last time so whaheeeey!

Hannah x


	21. Danger and Detention

_They had been walking for a few minutes when they heard footsteps from a distance. Panicking, Lana began to throw the cloak over herself and the boys. The footsteps became louder._

_Oh crap_

* * *

><p>Suddenly there was a crash. Then a clatter. And an "OOF!". Then a pink haired small girl crawled out of the shadows with white bandages unravelling down her back.<p>

"Tonks?" Noah asked incredulously.

"Shhhh! I'm escaping!" The girl whispered, furiously.

"From where?"

"The hospital wing! I can't bare to stay there any longer!"

Lana and Charlie laughed and pulled tonks off the floor before filling her in on their plan.

"Okay. I'll come!" she beamed and held onto Noah in the dark.

"Are you sure you don't need to get some sleep?" Lana asked uncertainly watching tonks with mixed worry and amusement.

Tonks turned and gave her a sharp look.

"What do you think I've been doing the past 2 days?"

Lana shrugged with a sympathetic smile and carried on walking.

Soon they arrived at the library and were surprised when they realised Tonks hadn't tripped once on the way down.

"You're my lucky charm!" Tonks beamed at Noah then bustled into the deserted library. Noah frowned, shrugged and followed her inside.

The enormous library had a cold breeze running through it and Lana tugged at her jumper coldly as they entered the restricted section.

"So, old wizarding laws?" Noah double checked and began pulling giant books from shelves.

Nodding, Lana wandered around the bookcases for a minute before selecting a few books and conjuring a nice armchair.

The others copied her and Lana made some more of her jars of fire to keep them warm.

The first book was useless. And utterly boring.

The next contained whacky trials and lunatic cases.

The third was about trials of dangerous animals.

Lana was about to give up, her eyes began flicking up to watch the others. Noah was tracing lines with his finger carefully , Tonks had her eyes closed and her head was tilted onto her shoulder and Charlie was obviously trying very hard to stay awake.

"I think we should call it a night," Lana sighed and climbed off her chair, careful as to not let the heavy books fall off.

Charlie nodded his approval and began slotting his books back into their spots.

Noah looked unhappy, but agreed and slipped his books into a bag to take back to the dorm.

They woke Tonks and finished packing away when they heard a hiss.

It was Mrs Norris, the caretakers cat.

"Shoo!" Charlie growled at it and waved his arms furiously.

"Filtch is nearby then!" Tonks informed them.

"Under the cloak!"

They scrambled under the cloak just in time for filch to appear from around the bookcase and scoop Mrs Norris up tenderly.

"Hello my beauty, what have we here?" The grime covered man asked quietly.

"Chairs, fire, the seats are warm. That must mean they're nearby. Come on my pretty. Lets go find a teacher."

All four friends stared at each other wide eyed.

They had to banish the chairs before a teacher returned.

Lana pulled her wand from her leggings and began to cast but they were too late. Filch appeared again followed by the worst person possible.

Snape.

The greasy haired man stared in disbelief at the scene.

"Dumbledore." filch looked at him closely.

"the head teacher?"

"no! his granddaughter you fool! And her little friends. Search the area!" he barked at Filch and examined the armchairs closely. Thread by thread.

"I shall have her expelled before the year is up." he vowed to himself. Lana bit back a snort and stood deadly still with the others till the potions professor had swept form the room.

She began banishing the armchairs once again while the others kept watch and soon they were able to leave and raced back to the comfort of their warm beds.

…...

The next morning, Lana woke with a start.

There was an awful lot of pink dangling around her face. Two bright blue eyes were staring into her own green ones.

"Morning tonks!"

"Hurry up, you have some business to attend to!" Tonks whispered cryptically.

Lana raised an eyebrow and scrambled out of bed. It was Saturday so there were no lessons and Lana had intended to spend a great deal of the day asleep.

She quickly got dressed but couldn't be bothered to sort her hair out so let her untamed waves float down her back.

She followed Tonks down the spiral stairs sleepily and looked around blearily.

"Wusgoinon?" She asked before yawning loudly.

The common room was mainly empty. The mass of comfy chairs and sofas were deserted and the fire flickered to the left of the room.

"Snape's outside. I think he's waiting for you." Tonks replied bluntly.

"Why?"

"Dunno, but I thought I'd get you." Tonks shrugged and plonked down on a nearby armchair.

Lana copied and looked thoughtful.

"Did he see you?"

"No, I caught a glimpse of him through the portrait hole when some seventh years came through. I borrowed your cloak and snuck out." she explained tiredly.

"Well, we best go see what he wants then." Lana suggested after a few minutes of dozing off peacefully.

Tonks looked unhappy but nodded all the same.

Taking a deep breath, the two girls exited the common room and became face to face with the Potions Professor.

"Ah professor? What are you doing here in the floor of the brave hearted?" Tonks asked heartily.

"Or the foolish." the teacher muttered. " I want to see you both in my office for detention at 9 o'clock with Diggory and Weasley as well!" Snape spat.

"Can I ask why, sir?" Lana asked.

"You know why Dumbledore!" he hissed. She shrugged and smiled innocently hiding the joy as the mans eyes narrowed with hate.

"You and your little friends were out in the castle last night and I have proof!"

"What proof?" Tonks asked in surprise.

"For a start, you should still be in the hospital wing, Miss Tonks!" the hook nosed teacher said stiffly.

Tonks opened her mouth to retort but faltered.

"Very well, we'll see you there." Lana smiled again and turned on her heel dragging tonks back through the portrait hole.

"EURGH!" tonks shouted in frustration and kicked the wall.

Lana wished she could do the same, but instead chose to jump on the couch and bury her head into a pillow.

…...

It was almost eight before the boys came down and found Lana laid out on the couch fully dressed and Tonks slumped against the wall with her head rolled onto her shoulder.

They woke the girls and left for the great hall while being filled in on the mornings events so far.

"Why is it always us that has detentions?" Charlie moaned.

"Cause Lana's such a rebel!" Tonks laughed.

Lana gave a weak smile and they walked into the hall. Immediately Lana's attention was caught by the Auror Skacklebolt who was watching her intently.

He scratched his head nonchalantly and Lana gave him a short nod. As expected she felt a presence in her mind. She allowed it entry and Shacklebolt's heavily accented voice boomed in her head.

_"The hearing has been set for Thursday. At 10 o'clock"_

The presence left and Lana gave the trainee Auror another nod of gratitude.

They reached their usual spots at the Gryffindor table and sat down.

"Hearing is on Thursday, can we do it?" she asked Noah.

He looked thoughtful and then nodded.

She beamed at him and they ate quickly as the detention fast approached.

The boys had their usual mass of food, while Tonks had eggs and Lana had some of Nora's homemade brioche that she had sent her.

She smiled to herself thinking about her elf and the memories she had with her.

"Why don't we go into Hogsmeade later?" Tonks asked cheerfully.

"Cause last time we did that you all got excluded!" Lana moaned.

"Oh yeah… so?" Tonks said boldly.

"I'm not bothered." Charlie agreed. The three turned to Noah who was staring at them in disbelief.

"You are kidding!"

They glanced at each other for approval before shaking their heads.

"…. fine! But only because I want to go to the bookshop!"

Tonks grinned at him and began her usual swaying in her seat that she did when exited.

She reached for some pumpkin juice happily but instead knocked it over onto some seventh years homework.

The seventh year screeched in horror and turned to Tonks.

Tonks drew back in fear and looked helplessly at Noah.

"What did you just do!" the seventh year asked viciously.

"She didn't do anything!" Lana insisted as she did a quick drying spell on the parchment and restored the writing.

"Yes she did!" The girl hissed and looked at her homework. She gave a small 'Oh' in surprise and turned back to glare at Tonks.

Tonks shook her head and the four left the great hall before there was any trouble.

"Come on then, lets go and meet Snape." Charlie sighed.

Lana agreed and the four made the short walk to the dungeons as slowly as possible.

They knocked on the door of the potions office and entered apprehensively.

Snape was sat at his desk writing quickly. His greasy hair fell past his shoulders and his long nose nearly touching the desk.

"Is being late a habit of yours, Miss Dumbledore?" he asked without looking up.

"We're not late!" She said audaciously before Snape pointed up to his clock and she saw the time.

10 past 9 . Oops.

"Well, we're not that late!"

"A point form Gryffindor for back chat, now sit down all of you." the man said snidely. The four looked at each other cautiously.

"We haven't any seats, professor!" Tonks said innocently.

Snape looked up with a hint of amusement etched into his hollow eyes.

" I am not a fool miss Tonks, I know what you can do." Tonks looked at Lana for help who sighed and pulled her wand from the holster that Noah got her for Christmas.

Snape watched as the four first years conjured an armchair each in such precision he wouldn't imagine that seventh years could manage. It was obvious that Lana had gotten her grandfathers teaching skills but the girl was a fool to reveal her skills, even to her friends.

He realised the four had sat and were now waiting. Diggory was reading the labels of various potions laying around the room. The Weasley brat was running a hand through his hair repeatedly. The metamorphmagus was morphing her hair into a rainbow and Dumbledore was twiddling her thumbs and staring at the ceiling.

Snape glanced up instinctively and back down when he saw nothing there. Lana gave a small chuckle and looked back down too, realising the professor was ready.

"As you all know, wandering the school after curfew is strictly forbidden. And with the headmaster currently unavailable I feel that the duty of deciding your punishments has been left to me." The man said glaring at the Gryffindors who instantly burst out laughing.

"What!" he said irritably.

"Well, I have to hand it to you sir. You may be boring in class but your hi-larious out of it!" Lana giggled.

"This is no laughing matter, Miss Dumbledore." The laughing stopped.

"In that case, we don't accept whatever your decision maybe because as deputy head and our head of house, that decision should fall to professor McGonagall." Noah said seriously giving the teacher a hard look.

"You have no idea how this school works you insolent child!" Snape snapped venomously

"Actually, he does!" A familiar voice said seriously from the doorway. The first years turned from their chairs and saw professor McGonagall stood, her face stiff as if refraining from shouting.

"You four, go and wait outside."

"But prof-"

"Now, Mr Weasley."

The four nodded glumly and stalked outside the office.

However, they could still hear the sound of an extremely angry Deputy headmistress.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!"

They pressed their ears up against the thin wooden door and listened intently.

"I thought.."

"No you didn't Severus, you thought that with the headmaster gone you would try and expel his granddaughter AND undermine my authority. Time and time again I have warned you about the mistreatment of my students but you've gone too far this time Severus. And believe me. I shall be telling Albus." McGonagall said with a flourish and burst from the room.

The four Gryffindors leapt away just in time to not be crushed by the door.

They followed their head of house quickly as she stormed through the dungeons and back up to the main school.

"what on earth are you trying to accomplish Miss Dumbledore? You have already had your grandfather placed under investigation, and you are jeopardizing the reputation of our school."

"With respect professor, Professor Dumbledore must have known it was against the law to duel a minor, and yet he still did." Noah said solemnly.

"And, Snape hates us. He didn't even have any proof we were out at night."

"And we're going to be Granddad's defence and get him off."

"AND ENOUGH!" McGonagall bellowed. "You have done enough damage, all four of you. You are forbidden from leaving the school."

"But how will we help him?" Tonks asked softly.

"I assure you Miss Tonks, he is a grown man and much cleverer than you can even imagine, he will manage." she replied calmer than before.

Tonks nodded shyly and said no more. Lana, however, wasn't happy.

"Please professor, I have a right to be there! He's the only family I have left." she played sadly.

McGonagall's face softened and her lips curved into a small, sad smile.

"I know its hard Miss Dumbledore, but you have to trust us, we are adults, more qualified and cleverer than you, we can help."

Lana nodded and they began to walk away, as soon as they were out of eyesight, Lana's calm facade disappeared.

"Calm it Lana, she thinks she's doing what's best." Noah sighed.

"Yeah, besides she has a point." rage flared up inside Lana's stomach.

_What point! I can help him!_

Luckily Charlie stepped in.

"No, she hasn't. Lana's right. We have to help Dumbledore because we have to trust Lana, otherwise our friendship means nothing."

"We never said we wouldn't come," Tonks said softly.

"Yeah." Noah agreed, looking at his feet.

Lana gave a weak smile and thanked Charlie with a nod before turning to leave.

"Hey, thought we were going to Hogsmeade?" Tonks asked disappointedly.

"Maybe tonight, I think I need a nap or something." Lana shrugged and walked away leaving Tonks, Noah and Charlie feeling helpless.

She didn't go for a nap, instead she walked towards the library and found a nice corner in the transfiguration section where she could do her homework.

Only when she had sat down, did she realise she had none of her supplies or books.

Bugger.

She contemplated walking back to the common room but undoubtedly she would see tonks or the boys who would insist on studying with her. And she felt like she needed to be alone.

It was odd. She had spent the past four years alone. Missing her parents, craving attention from her grandfather. And now she was surrounded by love and friends, yet she still wasn't leading a normal life. She had caused all this trouble and she wished it would all just go away so she could be normal.

She sat staring out of a window for a while watching the late February sun dip in-between grey clouds.

She sat there, thinking, until she felt a tap on her shoulder. She started and whizzed around her wand raised.

"Whoa! Just me," Charlie said warmly taking a seat next to where Lana previously sat. she laughed and sat back down.

"You okay?" he asked after a minute.

Lana frowned.

"I think so."

"You think so?" he asked sarcastically.

She laughed again and swatted his arm playfully.

"In a way, I'm better than I have been in four years. In another, I just feel so lost." she told him sadly.

"Want to talk about it?" he pressed warmly.

"I just thought my first year at Hogwarts would be so normal, I'd have friends, pretend to struggle at potions and get a detention or two. But not this!"

"But Lana, you have done all those things!" Charlie said kindly.

"Yeah, I've also had my three best friends excluded, duelled the headmaster, caused an enquiry at the school, attacked the potions master, broke all the school rules, had well over 2 detentions and got you poisoned!" She ranted telling Charlie all her regrets.

He listened carefully nodding when appropriate and chuckling when he felt the need.

"Lana, you have to put this all behind you or it'll eat you up. I know it'll be hard, but after this trial is over, we can start again next year. It will be better."

Lana smiled.

"I suppose," she sighed dramatically.

"Miss Dumbledore, are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I do believe I am Mr Weasley."

"Well then, may I accompany you to the Great Hall where I believe, lunch is being served?" Charlie asked formally, suppressing a grin.

"You may," Lana replied and they left the library with a wide smile.

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><p>hello! :) so, if you haven't already then please check out my profile, because there you will find out things like OMG i have finished writing this book and I'm on to no. 2! :D can you believe it! so please review! :)<p>

also, If anybody could write a bttere description for the story than the one i have i would muchly appreciate it! might even name a character after them... ;) . but it would have to be a girl :L i would tell you why but it would ruin the story's plot!

Hannah x


	22. The Escape

**Hello, wont be updating for a few days because my lovely music teacher decided it would be a good idea to put me and 4 of my friends into the full school assemble singing.. in front of 1600 people and all my teachers!**

**aargh.. I'm going to fail epicly! anyway enough of my ranting!**

**Enjoy! :).. even though this chapter's kinda small :L**

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><p>"Where have you been?" Tonks' shrill voice pierced Lana's ear drums as she sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.<p>

Many students from along the table whipped around and then looked away again when they saw who it was. Many were coming accustomed to Tonks' antics.

She smiled apologetically at them and then turned back to Lana to glare.

"You said you were going for a nap, instead you disappeared off the face of the Earth!" she said holding a fork of salad up in the air shaking it to express her feelings. Lettuce flew off her fork and showered the Hufflepuff table who shrieked and looked around frantically for the source.

Tonks chucked the cutlery down and ducked to avoid being seen while still glaring at Lana.

"Chill, Nymph, I'm sure they have a good reason for disappearing." Noah said to calm the furious pink head down. However, the use of the word 'they' set Tonks off further.

"Yes! And you! You said you were going to find her instead you disappeared too. I was worried as hell!" she finished and took in a long breath.

"Sorry, we were at the library and just ended up talking for a bit." Charlie told her shrugging and began plating up some chicken wraps and chips. Lana didn't fancy much so instead got a bowl of potato salad.

"Seriously? All your eating is potato salad?" Tonks asked incredulously.

"What's wrong with potato salad?" Lana asked in mock hurt.

Tonks rolled her eyes and laughed.

_I do love potato salad!_ Lana thought to herself.

She finished the bowl, roughly the same time as the boys and Tonks finished their lunches and they decided to head back up to the common room to plan for Thursday and Dumbledore's trial.

…...

Few days seemed to get slower by the second, and Lana also noticed that their always seemed to be a teacher in the near vicinity.

The Aurors guarding every exit seemed more alert and every time any of the four friends went into the dinner hall, Shacklebolt was never around.

The head of Aurors, Scrimgeour, was often seen walking through the school. His head held high and his cloak billowing behind him. He had an air of importance and often separated crowds to get to where he was needed.

Tuesday came in with clear skies and a crisp breeze of cool winter air. Lana and Tonks were eating omelettes in the Great Hall hurriedly as they had homework to do.

Then, Lana saw him. Scrimgeour's dull grey robes swung out of sight and Lana left the table, racing after him. She wanted answers.

"OI! Scrimgeour!" the man turned shrewdly and raised his eyebrows seeing Lana approaching quickly with Tonks following about a foot behind.

"Can I help you, Miss Dumbledore?" He asked uncomfortably.

"Yep!" She finally caught up with him panting slightly.

"Right, I just wanted to know where Shacklebolt is?" Lana asked the old man.

"Trainee Auror Shacklebolt has been removed from this mission due to compromising the terms of his employment." Scrimgeour said seriously while looking down at Lana.

Tonks arrived next to them and fanned her self with her hand quietly.

"How's that then?" Lana prompted. Scrimgeour looked like he was about to leave for a moment but answered anyway.

"Trainee auror Shacklebolt violated the terms of his contract by jeopardizing our mission. He gave out ministry information that had not yet been released."

"Okay…" Lana mumbled. Information?…

_The Trial!_

"Well, thank you for your time sir." Tonks smiled hurriedly and dragged Lana away from the man.

"Hey! I wasn't finished." Lana complained to Tonks as they turned the corner.

"I don't care, we have 2 days to come up with this case and encase you've forgotten. There's only four of us and we're all like 11 years old!" Tonks rushed out.

"I suppose." Lana sighed resignedly and arms linked, Lana and Tonks skipped up to the library.

…...

Later that day, the group were sat in a corner of the common room.

Noah had several sheets of parchment spread on a table writing down as Lana recited.

Occasionally, Tonks or Charlie would stop her with a small input or suggestion.

The sun gradually sank and the sky became tinged with pinks and blues.

Lana ended her speech.

"Well, if that doesn't win them over what will?" Charlie asked.

Tonks laughed but Noah and Lana looked at him seriously.

"Charlie, we're a bunch of first years! We don't have the experience of these people!" Lana said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, and all we've had is the school library not all the files that Dumbledore or the opposition will have had." Noah agreed.

Charlie grimaced.

"So, lets go over this one last time. What are our key points?" Tonks said to Lana.

"Firstly, Dumbles wasn't given the option to back out. Secondly, he didn't know there would be a crowd. Thirdly, he went easy on me so I won and didn't use any major spells and lastly he had protective wards over the students and Poppy by the side encase of injury!" Lana said hurriedly.

They sat in silence for a few moment reflecting on the enormity of the situation they found themselves in.

"Lana, how are we gonna get out of school?" Tonks asked after a while.

"Erm…" Lana paled and looked helplessly at Charlie who was beaming.

"I have an idea, but its risky." he said mischievously.

"Do tell!" Tonks asked, intrigued.

"Well, here's what I'm thinking.."

…...

The next day went slowly than what anyone thought was possible. The curfew came and went and Tonks and Lana went to bed full of anxiety and excitement.

Beep beep beep beep.

Lana sat up bolt straight. She glanced at the alarm clock by her bed. It confirmed her thoughts. It was the day of the trial.

She rolled out of bed and stalked over to Tonks bed where Tonks lay snoring, with her mouth hanging open.

"Oi! Wake up Nymph!" Tonks stirred.

"Noah?- oh its you!" she croaked as her eyes opened. She opened her mouth several times before gasping for water.

"Eurgh, I hate dry mouth!" she complained gulping down the large glass of water Lana had poured for her.

"Oh great, transfiguration today." she moaned rolling out of bed oblivious to the look Lana was giving her. She waddled away with her duvet wrapped around her waist and into the bathroom. Lana stared after in disbelief. Suddenly there was a thump and the bathroom door slammed open.

"THE TRIAL!" she yelled.

The blonde haired girl that was Amie rose from her covers and winced.

"What's with the shouting?" Lana was taken back. Normally Amie was quiet and shy.

"Sorry, I'm really not a morning person." she mumbled and flopped back down into her quilt.

Tonks looked apologetic and clambered over her bed to get to Lana.

"Sorry, forgot." she smiled sheepishly.

"No?" Lana asked sarcastically.

"Ready for this?" Tonks asked quietly.

"No." Lana told her honestly. She wasn't ready.

They quickly got dressed. Lana threw on a neat pleated skirt and white blouse. Tonks opted for skinny trousers and a heavy wool cardigan.

They left the dorm and the sleeping girls behind. They met Charlie and Noah in the common room and left for breakfast.

Few teachers were up as breakfast had only just opened but McGonagall resided in her usual spot left of the middle of the teachers table.

She peered down at the four as they sat down. Lana became worried.

"McGonagall's watching us." Lana whispered to Charlie who was sat on her right.

"Hey, We'll be fine." he soothed and placed his arm around her shoulder which she leant into appreciatively.

Lana wasn't hungry. She couldn't eat. Instead she watched as Tonks rolled egg around her plate and Noah stared at his own. Charlie didn't eat either. He just comforted Lana.

Finally it was time. At 9 o'clock, Lana, Tonks, Noah and Charlie pushed their plates away and prepared to leave. Each had their school bags. They nearly reached the end of the hall when Lana felt the expected feeling of the transfiguration teacher trying to probe her mind. She let her in with her mind already set up.

_Did I do my homework for potions? Oh who cares. Yes! Transfiguration later. That'll take my mind off granddad! Did we have transfiguration homework? I'll ask Noah-_

"Noah, did we have homework for transfiguration?"

"Yep."

_Poo. Well, up to the common room then._

The presence left. Smirking to herself, Lana and the others tuned through the entrance hall and walked towards the grand staircase In case McGonagall was watching through the doors.

As soon as they were out of eyesight, Lana pulled the invisibility cloak from her bag and draped it over them.

Then they turned and walked back through the hall and out into the entrance courtyard.

"Right, now what do we do?" Tonks asked Charlie.

"Well, seen as though we haven't got brooms, I've decided that thestrals are the way to go."

Tonks visibly shivered but nodded in agreement. Lana's pale face tuned whiter than possible but she too had a blazing look of determination in her eyes.

They quickly walked down to the forbidden forest and slipped in through the trees. When they were sure they were hidden by the trees Lana pulled the cloak off them and they wandered freely.

"This forest is enormous! How on earth will we find them?" Noah asked.

Charlie grinned and pulled a large and bloody chunk of meat from his bag.

Tonks gulped and walked away.

"Not squeamish are you Tonks?" Noah asked with a smirk.

"No!" she defended angrily.

"You may not be but I am." Lana muttered quietly but ignored the feeling of disgust and held out her hand to be given some meat.

She groaned as she fleshy object landed in her palm and waved it around to entice a thestral.

Tonks flat out refused to do the same until they threatened to leave her behind.

"Come on! Where's your courage?"

"Back up at school, in my comfy warm bed." Tonks moaned as she took the meat. her face went green in disgust and she shut her brilliant blue eyes tightly.

Sooner than expected, several thestrals came flying down into the forest.

"Take your pick." Lana shrugged. Charlie who hadn't realised they were there as he couldn't see them, looked around helplessly.

Lana led him to a large grey thestral and help him onto it.

"this is insane."

"I do not want to do this anymore. I can't fly this thing!" Tonks complained, biting her lip.

"You'll be fine Tonks, they fly themselves." Charlie re-assured her.

Looking a little annoyed, Tonks pulled herself onto a small thestral and Noah was heaving himself onto one as well. Lana looked around and saw a tall and majestic looking thestral stood behind a tree peeking out nervously.

She smiled at it and slowly walked towards it.

After she was sure the thestral wouldn't mind she mounted it carefully and lead it into a clearing where the others were.

"So shouldn't have worn a skirt today!" She grumbled as she yanked it down.

"Ready?" Charlie asked amusedly.

She nodded nervously.

"Well, to London, the visitors entrance to the ministry please." Charlie asked the horse like creatures.

Lana's thestral padded for a moment before long skeletal wings spread from it's back and it took off into the early morning sky. She cheered as she saw the others behind her and looked back as Hogwarts faded from view.

She could hear Tonks whining in the background and laughed.

They travelled for a while and Lana was enjoying the calm serenity of flying when there was an ear piercing screech. The thestral wheeled around and Lana saw Tonks dangling off the side of her thestral screaming.

Panicking, Lana shouted for the boys who slowed down their thestrals and descended so they could pull Tonks up.

However, Tonks' thestral was distressed and its head kept snapping around and trying to bite Tonks.

Tonks yelled and her hand slipped off she was falling and falling and falling and then-

"GOTCHA!" Noah yelled and pulled up as Tonks fell past him and he reached out to grab her. She swung over the back of his thestral and buried her head into his neck.

"Don't look down. It told you to not look down!" Noah said irritably over and over again.

The disaster was averted and Lana promised herself she'd never let Tonks fly again.

The journey resumed and continued for well over half an hour before the thestral began to descend.

Then they landed in a grimy, dingy street . Located on which were several shabby offices, a pub, and a wall covered with graffiti.

They dismounted the creatures and thanked them awkwardly.

Then the three followed Charlie across the street towards a broken down telephone box.

"Charlie, it's out of order?" Lana told him thickly.

"No, this is the visitors entrance to the ministry. It's disguised."

"Oh, how do you know?" she asked as they entered the box.

"Dad took me into work once." Charlie smiled at the memory.

Shrugging the memory away, Charlie dialled some numbers into the machine and a loud and clear voice sounded.

" Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your names and intentions in the Ministry." the voice said.

"Erm… Lana Dumbledore, Nymphadora Tonks, Charlie Weasley and Noah Diggory- Here as the defence for Albus Dumbledore." Lana said unsurely.

Then with a small clatter, four shiny silver badges fell out of the change deposit with small writing on.

Lana and the others picked a badge each.

'Lana Dumbledore- Defence Of Albus Dumbledore'

She pinned it onto her robes and looked at Charlie for what to do next. Suddenly the ground moved and the telephone box plummeted downwards into the ministry.

Lana stared in Awe. Tonks gasped. Noah and Charlie smiled.

The floor was polished dark wood and the ceiling was peacock blue with golden symbols moving across it.

There was a Fountain halfway down the Atrium where a group of golden statues stood. One was a wizard one a witch and the other 3 were a centaur, a goblin, and a house-elf each spouted water into the surrounding pool.

At the end of the Atrium was a set of golden gates, next to which was a security stand. And Lana could just make out some lifts through the gates.

"That's where we need to go!" Lana pointed down the hall.

"What about security? Do we need disguise?"

"No, they take your wand so it wouldn't work." Charlie pointed out.

"We'll just have to do it and if they say anything we'll make a run for it. Agreed?" Tonks asked.

"Agreed." They all answered.

They followed the crowds of people making their way to work and arrived at the gates.

The small cubicle contained a badly shave wizard who was reading intently with his feet on his desk.

Behind the galls pane separating them Lana could see a name tag- Eric Munch. In front of the four was a small woman.

She coughed sweetly.

The man looked up.

"Hello Marge!" he said gruffly.

"Hello Eric, darling," she smiled at him. "Can you check me in please? I'm here to give Bernard his Lunch." she laughed.

"Of course I can Marge." he laughed too.

He took the woman's wand and placed it on a magical device hidden from their view and then handed it back to her. He swivelled in his chair and placed some sort of ticket in a cabinet before wheeling back around.

Lana stood in front of his desk bravely.

"Wand," the security wizard grunted at Lana.

Lana produced her wand and the wizard dropped it on to a strange brass instrument, which looked a bit like a set of scales with only one dish. It vibrated and then a narrow strip of parchment like the previous woman's jetted out of the device.

The wizard tore this off and read the writing on it.

"Willow bark, phoenix feather and unicorn hair, 11 inches."

"Yes," said Lana nervously.

"Here ya go." he said and pushed her wand back towards her.

Lana thanked him quickly and walked through the gate.

The others repeated the process and were incredibly lucky that the man either hadn't noticed he had just served a bunch of 11 year olds or he didn't care.

They proceed through the gates and stepped into the lifts.

"The courtrooms." Lana said more confidently than she felt.

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><p><strong>Well, there you go! what did you think? let me know in your review... wink-wink ) but seriously, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, Favorited and put on alerts list! your keeping me going!<strong>

**p.s thankyou to Greenlily96 my beta! read her stories! :D**


	23. Trial and Error

Greetings- here's chapter 24! :D

Enjoy!

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><p>The lift veered violently from side to side as it twisted and turned through the ministry.<p>

Lana and the others quickly cast notice me not charms on themselves to prevent detection and stood in the corner of the lift, holding on for dear life.

The lift was empty when they had got ton in but the lift came to a stop to reveal a long corridor with many doors down it. The lift said clearly- 'Level One'.

Then, much to the first years horror, in walked the Minister of Magic. Cornelius fudge. Thankfully, the minister appeared to have not noticed the four first years and looked straight past them.

He was followed by a stout, short woman who reminded Lana of a toad. The woman wore a frilly pink dress with a matching bow in her dull brown ringlets.

"Dolores, did you bring the files?" Fudge asked impatiently as he straightened his robes.

"Of course!" The woman, Dolores, replied with a wide, smug smile.

The Minister huffed and sniffed importantly. Lana immediately disliked him, though she knew her grandfather disliked him with a passion.

Well, got to have something in common.

The lift jolted to a stop once again and Lana saw a corded room with many cubicles and people walking around with files.

Suddenly Lana saw a glimpse of red. Weasley red and realised Mr. Weasley was stood by the lift staring at her, mouth agape.

_'How can he see us?_' Lana sent to the others via their minds, frightened that their protection was faulty.

"In or out Weasley?" Fudge asked rudely.

"Err… In." Mr. Weasley replied quickly and hurried in, standing in front of Charlie and Lana.

"What are you up to?" He mumbled backwards so as to not attract attention.

"We're here for the trial." Lana whispered back urgently.

The lift's doors began to close but then Rufus Scrimgeour strode inside in the nick of time and nodded at the Minister curtly.

"Minister."

"Rufus, my old friend. How's life in the Aurors office then?" Fudge asked heartily.

"Fine, been busy with this case though." Scrimgeour replied bored.

"Yes, you must have. I mean it's not as if I don't like Dumbledore… it's just his ways are quite unorthodox and he's a bit well…mad!" Fudge said shrugging.

_'Phaa! You practically rely on him!_' Lana thought stubbornly, as she remembered just how important Dumbledore was in the wizarding world.

Lana bit back a retort as the lift set off once again and came to an unsteady halt with a ' level three' from the lift operator.

The doors opened to reveal more office and several wizards speaking importantly. Lana glanced at a door which read -

'Department of magical accidents and catastrophes'

A few people stepped in looking tired and sighed as the lift churned downwards.

"Busy night, Stewart?" Mr. Weasley asked one of the men.

"I'll say! Some kid in Nottingham brought down a castle wall!" Stewart said shaking his head in distress.

"Oh dear."

The doors clanged open again to show a very angry goblin shouting in gobbledegook to a baffled man who was red in the face.

The goblin turned when he heard the annoying voice of the lift, narrowed his eyes at the minister and then disappeared with a crack.

The lift left once gain and travelled like a ship in a storm until it finally stopped at 'level five'.

The doors clanged open to show several tanned wizards and witched in deep conversation.

"'Scuse me senores, senoritas." A man said tiredly and pushed through them and into the lift.

"How are the talks with the Spanish ministry going Johnson?" fudge asked.

"Brilliantly." The man replied irritably with a sour look.

The lift shuddered and took off again down to level 6 and then level seven. Back past the atrium. Then finally…

"Level 9, department of mysteries."

Most of the lift stepped out importantly and walked down the corridor of dark marble and eerie green light.

The group of first years followed quietly and waited by the door for everyone to get through, and then they slipped in quietly.

The room was massive. The entire wizengamot was sat on raised benches looking down at Dumbledore who was sat in a heavy iron chair in the center of the room. To Lana's horror he saw that over the back of the chair, chains were draped.

However, she didn't have long to ponder this as Dumbledore gave her a piercing look.

_How is everyone seeing us?_

Fudge began speaking.

"Members of the wizengamot…."

Lana blanked out to a more familiar voice in her head.

_"Lana, what on earth are you doing here?"_

_"Saving you…"_ Lana said feebly. It sounded stupid now, that four inexperienced first years thought they could save the great Dumbledore.

_"Lana, you should go back to school."_

_"Hell no!"_

_"Language, Besides Lana, you'll only get in trouble. I can handle myself."_

_"Then why did you let yourself get arrested. You know as well as I do you could escape any time you wanted." _Lana asked furiously.

_"Because what good would that have done?" _Dumbledore said intolerantly.

_"It would have saved your sorry arse!"_

_"And ruined it too, my dear, I can handle the trial and everything will be restored_." Dumbledore said warmly. Lana's heart warmed at the confidence her grandfather held.

_"Okay, but we're staying and if it goes badly we're butting in."_

_"No doubt about it, and also, your language appalls me my dear."_

_"Thanks!" _She grinned at him.

Lana turned attention back to the minister.

"How do you plead?" Fudge asked gravely.

"Sorry, what were the charges? I was infested with wrack spurts I'm afraid." Dumbledore laughed.

"Err…right." fudge said unsurely. "You are accused of willingly duelling a minor while in full awareness that such an act is illegal."

"Guilty." Dumbledore said without hesitation.

_WHAT THE HELL!_

Lana stared in disbelief.

"My dear Cornelius, I am not lying when I plead guilty. I did duel Lana however I'm sure you will agree that circumstances ensured that withdrawal wasn't an option." Dumbledore said humbly.

"Go on."

"Well, without wishing to discuss the relationship I have with my granddaughter too much, I think a lot of you will agree when I say, teenagers can be a handful."

Oh hell no!

"… and while I love Lana dearly, one day she got into a mood and decided she wanted to duel me. Now I'm a busy man, therefore to try and calm Lana down. I agreed and left her to cool off."

Lana's face contorted with rage.

_Lying scumbag. Hang on…This means he'll get off. Wait…. Is that a good thing?Of course it is._

Is it?

"Needless to say, I was as surprised as you can get when I walked into the hall to see it set up for a duel. Even more so when I saw over half the school there. I put protective spells over the students and began the duel." Dumbledore said.

"What happened during the duel?" A woman asked from a bench.

"It was nothing major of course; talented as Lana may be she can't be anything more then above average in her wand work. Anyway I let her take out her anger, she got me with a tackling charm and then I let her disarm me."

"And that is all?" fudge asked looking relieved.

"That is all." Dumbledore said conclusively.

A small cough came from next to the minister. It was the pink clothed woman.

"I'm afraid that it is not all Minister. The professor has failed to provide evidence."

"You have access to my mind madam, feel free." Dumbledore said warmly at the insufferable woman.

"Professor, as honest as I believe you to be. I also know that there is nobody more talented than you at the art of the mind. Minister, I suggest that we bring in Miss Dumbledore and maybe another pupil."

Lana's mind twisted in fear. Things were happening to fast. Ministry members were murmuring, fudge was blustering, Dumbledore was looking straight at Lana and the door swung open.

In walked Minerva McGonagall.

In the subtlest way, she grabbed Noah and Lana, breaking their notice me-not charms.

"Sorry we're late Albus," McGonagall said in her light Scottish accent. "It seems Miss Dumbledore isn't a morning person."

"Am too!" Lana mumbled stubbornly.

"Just in time Minerva!" Fudge said thankfully.

Lana glanced around nervously and followed McGonagall down the stone steps and into the middle of the courtroom.

Charlie and Tonks remained hidden by the door, while Noah and Lana stood near Dumbledore's chained chair staring at the mass of people in awe.

"Well, Jenkins! Don't just stand there. Go and get an unspeakable." Fudge hissed at a man by the door.

"I suggest we take a short recess while Jenkins fetches some unspeakables." Dumbledore suggested casually.

"Good idea Albus!" Fudge agreed and left the chamber looking frustrated and sweaty.

"Perfect timing Minerva." Dumbles praised his deputy gladly.

"I wouldn't have come at all, but I figured that this is where troublemaking students would be are. And look, I was right!"

"How did you see us? We had notice-me-not charms on." Lana asked.

"I was looking for you, that's why." McGonagall said shortly.

"What's happening then?" Noah asked suddenly.

"Well, a member of the department of mysteries is going to review your memories of the duel. Mr. Diggory, can you alter them?" Dumbledore asked urgently as he saw fudge re-enter the trial.

"Sure!" Noah said but his small brown eyes gave Lana a worried felling.

Noah was exceptionally good at hiding his feelings but today he looked anxious. If not for himself then for Dumbledore and Lana.

"Bringing the recess to an end, we welcome unspeakable- Percival Franks and Ernie Bishop." fudge said light-heartedly but looking more stressed than ever. His round face was steadily becoming purple.

"Miss Lana Elizabeth Dumbledore, do you agree to have you mind searched by said unspeakables."

"Sure!"

"Very well, you may proceed." Fudge said to the unspeakables who motion for Lana to sit. She did so, nervously and felt their presence enter her mind.

She caught flashes of the altered memory and focused on the lie.

Not soon enough, in Lana's opinion, the search was over. And then the two unspeakables moved onto Noah who, thankfully, looked more prepared than before.

Noah was sat for less than a minute before the unspeakables had finished.

"Not guilty." One said quietly, staring strangely at Lana.

"Ah, excellent. Well, dropped of all charges then."

"Thank you minister, do you mind if we could have a chat?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"Not at all, why don't we walk to my office?" Fudge asked as his purple face slowly retuned a normal healthy colour.

"Minerva, can you get these back to school, I shan't be long."

"Yes Albus." McGonagall said obediently and swept from the hall. Lana and Noah followed cautiously with Tonks and Charlie bringing up the rear.

"Miss Dumbledore, do you remember when I told you not to meddle in this trial."

"Yes professor." Lana said sadly, hanging her head in shame.

"Next time, remember before you leave the school and ride thestrals to the ministry." she said hotly and ushered them into a lift.

"But professor, then how would we get detentions?" Tonks asked, grinning.

"I'm sure you'd find a way."

…...

Everyone was in lesson when the group arrived back at Hogwarts via the floo network.

"Don't get ash on the carpet miss Tonks."

"Whoa- OOF!" Tonks yelped as she came spinning out of the fireplace and walked the wrong way out, hitting her head on the wall.

"Tonks! Are you okay?"

"Fine…just lost what little dignity I had left." she shrugged with pink tinged cheeks.

Noah and Charlie laughed awkwardly while McGonagall watched with a sad smile.

"You know, we haven't had such trouble makers since the marauders left!" McGonagall frowned at her first years.

"The who?" Noah asked with a frown.

"James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Black, Sirius Black." Tonks said quietly. Suddenly Noah got his known look of realisation but this time it was mingled with anger.

"What?"

"Your mum was formerly Andromeda Black. Your cousins with Sirius Black!"

Tonks went bright red but in anger not embarrassment.

"So?"

"He's a murderer, he betrayed Lily and James Potter." Noah said heatedly.

"Yeah, and he was my favourite cousin too! He was always laughing and joking and I refuse to believe he killed all those people!" Tonks yelled defiantly.

"Of course you'd think he was great you would only have been seven, like you know anything at that age." Noah scoffed.

"HEY! That's completely unfair!" Lana inputted, outraged. She had seen and known far too much at the age of seven.

"This isn't about you Lana!" Noah shot back.

"What do you care! He isn't your cousin!"

"Maybe not, but my aunty Anne was killed in the blast." Noah said bitterly.

"Well, I'm sorry but Sirius didn't kill her." Tonks said stubbornly.

"He's a Black. Why wouldn't he?"

"Are you saying I would kill because I'm a Black?" Tonks asked her voice laced with hurt.

Noah said nothing but gave her a dark look.

Biting back tears, Tonks ran from the office.

Noah ran his hand through his thick curly hair and walked out after her, slamming the door behind him.

Charlie and Lana turned to McGonagall slowly, who was sat to her desk watching wide eyed.

"I think that's another Gryffindor that should have been in Slytherin." Lana said sadly.

Charlie and Lana bid their professor good day, with the promise they would return for a meeting with Dumbledore tomorrow and left.

"You find Tonks; I'll get Noah to apologise." Charlie said, always the strategist.

…...

Lana searched the entire school twice and still couldn't find Tonks. She spent a little over an hour searching when suddenly the thought struck her.

Tonks is a metamorphmagus!"

She turned on the spot, where she was by Hagrid's hut. Then raced back up to the school.

She struggled on the last part of the hill as it was exceptionally muddy and fell over several times. She wiped her muddy hands on her skirt and carried on running through the entrance hall and up the grand stairs when-

"OI! You should be in lesson!" it was a very unhappy filch.

"Mud! Everywhere!" he growled menacingly.

"Not everywhere, this is a damn big school ya know!" Lana said while curling a strand of hair around her finger.

"Come with me girl, you'll be getting a punishment and a half for this."

"Ooh, scared. But actually, I'm kind of busy right now so….can I go?"

"No! Follow me." filch said grimly.

Lana followed the grizzly caretaker to his office on the ground floor.

They entered the badly lit room. Lana turned slightly green as the stench of fried fish hit her nostrils. Covering the left wall were several filing cabinets and the back wall held chains and axes from long ago.

Lana shuddered involuntarily.

"Stay here. I'm going to get the headmaster."

Lana couldn't be bothered to tell him that Dumbles wasn't back; instead she shrugged and took a seat.

With that, filch left the room in a swirl of filthy robes.

Lana sat for a moment sighing in boredom, until she saw a small cabinet labelled ' confiscated and highly dangerous.'

Intrigued, she crept to the cabinet and pulled it open lightly. Hearing footsteps approaching she grabbed the first thing she could and slammed the door shut.

She had just sat down with the thin object in her pocket when filch appeared at the door.

"Get out." he said gruffly.

Lana beamed at him and skipped away, though her anxiousness to find Tonks was increasing by the second. As soon as she turned the corner, she legged it back up to the common room to look for Tonks.

…...

Nowhere.

Tonks was nowhere to be found. Noah was sulking in the boy's dorm and Charlie had given up trying to talk to him.

Lana however had searched the school as well as she could before it came too close to curfew and she couldn't risk getting a detention before she'd even spoken to Dumbledore about his trial.

She huffed in annoyance and slumped on the couch of the common room, only to hear a slight crinkling of parchment.

Then it came to her. The thing she'd stolen from filch's office earlier.

She pulled it out eagerly and saw a scrap of old parchment.

She traced her wand over the folds for evidence of magic. They were there, but cleverly hidden.

"I, Lana Elizabeth Dumbledore request that this parchment reveals its secrets." Lana asked quietly after checking she wasn't being watched.

Suddenly, writing appeared on the parchment.

_'Mr. Moony would like to thanks Miss Dumbledore for her politeness,_

_Mr. Padfoot would like to know if Miss Dumbledore is in the same year as miss Tonks,_

_Mr. Wormtail would like to know if Miss Dumbledore can bring him some food as he is hungry._

_Mr prongs would like to point out that miss Dumbledore is nowhere near Mr. Wormtail but nice try, and also would like to ask where miss Dumbledore found this beautiful parchment.'_

Lana gasped.

How did they know about Tonks? Why did those names sound familiar...could Padfoot be Black? It fitted. There were four marauders and four mystery writers.

Lana pounded her memory for any clue.

"Can you tell me who you are?" She whispered to the yellow parchment.

_Mr. Prongs would like to tell Miss Dumbledore that her assumptions are correct, though, she still shall not gain access to this most prized possession of the marauders._

_Mr. Wormtail is still hungry._

_Mr. Wormtail is stupid._

_Shut it siriu- err. Padfoot._

_Wormtail, you idiot!_

The writing ended.

"My assumptions are correct." Lana said to herself.

She grabbed some spare parchment and began scribbling.

_Moony=_

_Padfoot= black_

_Prongs-_

_Wormtail=_

_Well, potter starts with 'p' so that could be prongs. And moony could possibly mean the werewolf that came to Hogwarts a few years back. And if they were best friends and one of them was a werewolf then they would have tried to help. And the only logical, though slightly insane way would be to become animals. Animagi!_

_The marauders were animagi!_

As the pieces slotted into place, Lana felt satisfied with her work, until she realised that she was still no closer to opening the parchment.

She chucked the parchment back onto the table and rolled her head back in an annoyed huff.

Suddenly Charlie appeared next to her.

"What you up to, trouble?" he asked jokingly.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Lana said bitterly. Then waited for him to reply. He didn't.

"What?" She asked leaning forwards. Charlie was sat staring at the table.

"I'm going insane. I swear that parchment you were just playing with, it just began filling in with writing."

Lana followed his gaze, and indeed. The previously blank parchment was covered in small curved writing.

_Messrs.' Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the marauders map._

Lana picked it up frantically.

"Charlie what did I do before it opened?" She asked hurriedly.

"You said you were up to no good." He shrugged, tearing his eyes away from the parchment.

"No! My exact words." she persisted.

"Erm... I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good?" he asked.

"Yes! That's it. That's the key to opening the parchment."

"What is it?" Charlie asked with a frown.

"Well, I may have tracked mud into the school and been caught be filch. So I was sat in his office and I saw this cabinet that said ' highly dangerous artefacts' or something. So I grabbed the first thing I could before filch came back and then I left." Lana told him.

"So you grabbed some parchment." Charlie asked with a smirk.

"Well, that's what I thought, but then I worked out that the parchment is magic. It belonged to the marauders and it is actually a map of - "Lana said with excitement as she unfolded the parchment.

"A map of the school!" Charlie said breathlessly as they examined the intricate detail of the map. They could see the tiny labels of rooms and corridors. But there were moving lines everywhere. After unfolding more, they realised they weren't lines. But tiny footsteps.

"Oh my God!" Lana breathed in awe.

"Look, there's Dumbledore."

"And McGonagall."

"So this map shows everything in Hogwarts?" Charlie wondered aloud.

"I don't think so. Look, the room of requirements isn't shown." Lana said biting her lip.

"Maybe it only shows up when it's in use." Charlie suggested.

"Maybe,"

"Hey, will it show Tonks?" Charlie said searching the map.

"Don't know, let's look." Lana said with a shrug.

Sure enough, after a few minutes Lana spotted Tonks' name floating in a bathroom on the second floor.

"Isn't that bathroom deserted?" Lana asked worriedly.

"Yeah, bill said it's where this really depressed ghost hangs out and screams at people."

"Sounds nice!"

"Yeah, her names moaning myrtle or something, she died in that bathroom when she came to school here in the 40's or 50's."

Lana gasped.

"Was she the girl that died when the chamber of secrets was opened?"

Charlie shrugged. "Whoever she is we need to get Tonks away from there, it's supposedly unsafe there. Cause that's where she died."

"Superstitious nonsense." Lana grumbled and crept up the stairs to get her invisibility cloak.

When she got back down, the pair pulled the cloak on and left the warm common room for the cool corridors of Hogwarts. With five floors to descend, they walked quickly.

They checked the map every so often to make sure that no teachers were near and finally came to the bathroom.

Lana nudged the door open slightly and peered inside.

With a slight worried no, Lana stepped inside with Charlie close behind. They pulled the cloak off and a crisp breeze hit their skin.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?" They jumped and turned to see the silvery figure of a school girl, in and old fashioned uniform. Her hair was in his pig tails and her glasses were pushed high on her wrinkled nose. Her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying. Since the day she died.

"Miss Myrtle, I presume?" Lana asked politely.

"Yes, and you are?" She sneered.

"Lana Dumbledore, I'm a first year Gryffindor. This is Charlie Weasley." she told the ghost warmly.

"Dumbledore was transfiguration teacher when I came here."

"He's head now." Lana told her warmly only to receive a look of hatred.

"I know that! I'm not thick!" she said with hatred in her voice.

"Sorry, we're just looking for our friend Tonks. We didn't mean to offend you." Charlie said quickly.

"Nobody ever means to! They just do!" Myrtle screeched and plummeted down a toilet with a great splash.

The water jetted up and surrounded the cubicle. It flooded the surrounding area.

"Ewe!" Charlie and Lana turned. They knew that voice.

Tonks sat next to the cubicle, her features rapidly changing from invisible to normal. Her bubblegum pink hair shot out of her head and her peachy complexion returned.

"Oh, hello!" Tonks said in surprise, rubbing her eyes. She had obviously just woken up.

"Where have you been? We've been worried sick!" Lana said pulling Tonks from off the wet floor.

"Sorry, guess I needed some time alone." She shrugged with a guilty smile.

"Right, c'mon then."

"Yeah, better get back to the common room."

"Suppose so, we have loads to tell you tomorrow!" Charlie told Tonks happily.

"I look forwards to it." Tonks beamed.

* * *

><p>4 more chapters to go! I'm excited! :) please review! adios!<p>

Hannah x


	24. Making up and Falling Out

I know... two updates in one day. but hey! if i have it.. why not? ;) anyway- 3 more chapters to go so enjoy!

* * *

><p><em>"A map of the school!" Charlie said breathlessly<em>

_"Where have you been? We've been worried sick!"_

_"Yeah, better get back to the common room."_

…...

"So tired." Lana groaned as she pulled herself from the comfort of her warm bed.

"Well, that's what happens when you spend half the day sneaking around the ministry and the other half running over the school." Tonks smirked into her own pillow.

"Hey! If you hadn't disappeared I could've gone to bed before curfew for once!" Lana protested.

Tonks grinned and jumped out of bed.

"Well, I feel great!"

"Yeah, cause you were asleep the whole time we were looking for you!" Lana said irritably as she rummaged through her drawers for school clothes.

Tonks smiled and got dressed quickly.

The pair left the dorm and descended into the common room.

"Morning," Charlie greeted them casually from an arm chair, where he sat reading the Daily Prophet.

"Does it ever occur to you that no normal 12 years olds read the paper." Tonks questioned.

"Well, normal 12 year olds didn't skip school yesterday to go and help out their headmaster." Charlie reasoned. Tonks nodded.

"Where's Noah?" Lana asked quietly. Tonks eyes seemed to glass over and she stared out of the window at the spring sky.

"He wasn't there when I woke up." Charlie sighed.

"Well, let's go eat then."

"Alright," Tonks smiled coming back to reality.

The three left the tower with a new feeling of sadness, like something wasn't quite right. They all knew what. The fact that Noah wasn't walking with them, his nose buried in a book and making a sardonic comment every few minutes or so.

They made the long walk to the other side of the school and entered the hall. The hall was mostly full and Lana's eyes scanned the Gryffindor table for the familiar head of thick, dark, curly hair.

It wasn't there.

With a small sigh, Charlie led the girls to a less crowded part of the table and sat down.

They got their breakfast in silence and began eating.

"He's on the Ravenclaw table." Tonks said after a while.

"Is he?" Lana asked craning her neck to see.

"Yeah, he's got friends in Ravenclaw."

"He has?" Lana said in surprise.

"Yeah, he goes to chess club with them." Charlie said with a frown.

"There's a chess club?" Lana said her voice getting higher.

Charlie rolled his eyes.

Suddenly a seventh year appeared next to the three.

"Lana Dumbledore?" She asked sweetly.

"That's me." Lana told her with a smile.

"Professor Dumbledore would like to see you and your friends in his office after breakfast." she said unsurely.

"Oh, thank you!" Lana beamed.

The girl smiled and left for the Hufflepuff table.

"What do you reckon will happen?" Charlie asked through some sausage.

"Well, first I need to apologise for the whole thing. I think we need to fix our relationship. He's the only family I have left." Lana said.

Tonks and Charlie looked unsure but agreed with Lana.

Soon, breakfast was over and Tonks, Lana and Charlie left the hall with the mass of other students and made their way to Dumbledore's office.

Lana was filled with excitement, anxiousness and dread.

Would they get in trouble?

They reached the gargoyle that defended Dumbledore's office and to Lana's surprise it swirled open as soon as they stopped in front of it.

"Onwards!" she shrugged and jumped onto the staircase.

Dumbledore's office was open and empty. The three walked in and sat down like this kind of thing normally happened.

"Man, he's got so many books!" Tonks observed at the walls lined with bookshelves.

"Yeah, sometimes just looking at a book gives me a headache, so this would be like migraines-Ville!" Charlie said.

Lana and Tonks laughed at Charlie's use of vocabulary and didn't notice the purple robed man stood by the door.

"Glad you could make it." Dumbledore smiled from the doorway, obviously having watched the scene due to his amused expression, causing the three to jump up and burst out laughing.

"Sit, sit. We have much to discuss." The head teacher said warmly as he took his seat at his desk.

The three did as told and sat back down.

"Now, firstly and most importantly I would like to tell you that no punishment will be put in place after yesterdays… for lack of a better word excursion." Charlie sighed and visibly relaxed. Tonks rolled her eyes causing Lana to giggle.

"However, there is something else. In all my years in Hogwarts I have never seen such loyalty to the school, its headmaster. Or just to a friend." Dumbledore said glancing at Lana.

"Therefore-" he was cut off by a short knock on the door.

"Sorry we're late Albus." McGonagall walked in with Noah who was avoiding the gaze of his three friends.

"No matter," Dumbledore smiled and conjured a seat for the two.

"As I was saying, such dedication and love is hard to find. Therefore I am pleased to present 50 points to Gryffindor, each." he finished with a huge smile.

"Oh my God!"

"That makes up for all the points we've lost over the year!"

"We're gonna be in the lead!" Noah said quietly.

"If we win Quidditch we'll have the highest number of points for Gryffindor in 10 years!" Charlie said his mouth agape.

"Now, as head teacher I'm not supposed to be biased, so is there anyone from any other houses that helped you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Erm…no." Lana frowned.

"Gryffindor's through and through I see." Dumbledore smirked.

"Yes sir!" Charlie said and saluted.

"Well, I'm sure you'll bring your score down. After all, there is still a good few months before the end the year." McGonagall said stiffly.

"Nah, you know us Professor, good as gold!" Tonks grinned.

"Quite."

Dumbledore sat watching amusedly until the banter ended.

"Now, I'm sure you have lessons to attend and then at break you'll get to witness your housemates reaction to your sudden rise in points." Dumbledore said seriously but with a smile.

Noah nodded and the four made their way to leave.

"A moment please, Lana?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yeah, you guys go on to Herbology." Lana smiled bravely and turned back around to her Grandfather.

"Kay, see ya later." Tonks said and then they left.

…...

"I'm sorry about everything." Lana said quietly staring at the floor.

"You've nothing to be sorry for, my dear."

"I do, I let my parents opinions of you become my own and I caused all this trouble."

"Lana, don't let your mistakes become you. You are a very opinionated girl, you're talented and boisterous and have an incredible knack for charming even the most prepared of men."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Lana smiled dryly.

"I know that, I could have handled your childhood better. But I made the same mistake that many do when they care deeply for someone."

"What's that?" Lana asked quietly.

"I put your safety before your happiness. But now, I know that you are safe and I hope you are happy."

"I am… I think." Lana smiled.

"Well, I'm glad." Dumbledore said warmly.

"How is school going?" he asked awkwardly but with a pleasant smile.

"Good, I like Herbology a lot, you'd think it was transfiguration but it's really no fun anymore. Herbology is just really peaceful and nice. And I know that Tonks likes Astronomy loads but she's better at Defence and Charlie doesn't like school at all but I bet he'll take to care of magical creatures in 3rd year cause Mrs. Weasley was telling me about how he used to watch birds and stuff when he was little, and then there's Noah who just exceeds at everything but he spends all his time studying."

Lana and her grandfather spent the whole hour talking about the simplest subjects. Lana talked about things she would normally only speak to her friends about. She felt good, like she really was repairing their relationship.

They were having a discussion about Dumbledore's favourite Quidditch team, Puddlemere united, when the bell rang through the school.

"Oh my, it seems you missed Herbology, you better get to second period." Dumbledore said with a guilty smile and his blue eyes twinkling.

"Yeah, see ya." Lana said and then made to leave. Instead she turned around and gave Dumbledore a small but affectionate hug.

"Bye." she said and skipped from his office.

"Well Fawkes, it seems you were right." Dumbledore said to his old friend who gave a knowing trill.

…...

The day passed quickly with little question into what took Lana so long with her grandfather.

It came to seven o'clock. Lessons had ended and Lana and tonks were sat in their dorms getting changed out of their school clothes.

"So, it was nice of Dumbles to let us off." Tonks mentioned nonchalantly.

"Yeah, we talked. I think things are going to be okay from now on."

"Good, I'm glad." Tonks sighed worrying about the mistake her best friend had possibly made.

"Yeah, me too." Lana beamed oblivious to Tonks' frown. "C'mon lets go down to the common room and find Charlie."

They went downstairs to the busy common room and found Charlie sat on the couch receiving glares from some fifth years.

"What's got their wands in knots?" Lana asked as she plonked down.

"I wouldn't let them take your seats."

"Dude!" Tonks laughed.

"Anyway, we need to talk to you." Charlie said shaking his head.

"About what?"

"Well, yesterday when was looking for you I got caught by filch and he left me alone in his office and I may have stolen something from the confiscated and highly dangerous box." Lana explained.

"So, when I got chance to look at it I worked out it belonged to the marauders. Then we accidentally opened it and it was a map. A map of the school."

"Wicked." Tonks smiled confusedly. "So?"

"It's not just any map. It shows every room, every secret passage and every person inside the grounds." Charlie told her.

"No way! That's so cool." Tonks said. "Can I see it?"

"Yeah," Lana pulled the parchment from her pocket and handed it to Tonks who unfolded it carefully and read the writing.

"Whoa! Oh my God! I can see us!" Tonks squealed in excitement.

"I know, it's going to be so useful for when we need to sneak out at night"

"Yeah, and also you can make yourself invisible which means there's going to be more space under the cloak."

"Good point!" Tonks smiled.

There was a small cough from behind Tonks, the three turned to see Noah stood awkwardly behind them. His normal tan skin was tinged with pink.

"Erm... I just wanted to say…sorry. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that." He said to the floor.

"No, you shouldn't have." Tonks said coldly.

"Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know Black so I shouldn't judge." Noah said again.

"No, you shouldn't have." Tonks said again, showing no signs of accepting his apology.

"Well, bye then." he muttered with a sigh, then left the common room confusedly.

"Tonks, it was nice of him to apologise." Lana said softly.

"Yeah, it was. But I'm still a black. I may not share their ideals or their delusions of grandeur but I inherited the black pride, and it's not going away just yet."

"We understand, I mean I inherited Dumbledore's charming façade." Lana nodded.

"I mean, there are bad people in my family. Really bad people. But I'm nothing like them, so Noah needs something better than an apology for what he said."

"If you say so." Charlie shrugged, fearing for the damaged relationship between their friends.

"So," Lana said changing the subject, "How do we close this damn thing?" She asked holding up the detailed map.

"Well, when Sirius came around to ours I can't quite remember as it's been a good few years, but he never said goodbye. He'd say 'mischief managed' and then leave." Tonks told them.

"Well, try it then." Charlie shrugged.

"Okay, Mischief Managed." Tonks said in a clear commanding voice.

And sure enough, the ink began to fade from the parchment. Grinning, Lana folded it back up and slipped it into her robes.

"Excellent! Now, who's up for a game of Gobstones?" Tonks asked with an evil grin.

They all groaned.

…...

Lana did not wish to be a house elf that night as she got into bed. Tonks had started a tournament in the common room which ended badly for anyone other than Tonks.

Nearly every surface was covered in the goo of the Gobstones apart from a small corner where Charlie and Art Bones had set up protection spells and settled for a game of chess.

Lana however, not wanting to be a mood killer had taken part in full enthusiasm and was often on the receiving end of Tonks triumphs.

So much so that she needed to wash her hair twice before it was free of slime.

April had come with longer days and warmer nights which meant Lana had to swap her winter duvet for her lighter summer one. Yet Lana had neglected such duties and knew she wouldn't sleep that night due to the heavy weight of the blanket.

"It's your own fault!" Tonks smirked from under her own covers.

Lana grumbled and shifted her leg so it hung by her bed. It wasn't right. When she was in the duvet it was too warm and when she was out it was too cold.

She continued to twist and turn until something caught her eye.

"Will you settle down?" Elena asked impatiently, "It may be the weekend tomorrow but some of us are still busy." she grumbled.

"Sorry, I'm just not comfortable."

"That's it! We're changing your quilts." Elena said determinedly and got out of bed.

"Oi! Amie, Tonks get up!" she said loudly and switched the dorm lights on.

"Wuzgoinon?" Tonks said into her pillow. "Ah, bright lights!" She grumbled.

"We're changing Lana's covers, seen as though she won't do them herself."

They got to work, Lana was on pillows, Tonks was taking sheets off, Amie was replacing sheets and Elena was swapping the duvet.

"Thanks guys." Lana said appreciatively.

"You're welcome," Elena huffed and got back into bed.

"It's no good! I'm awake now!" Elena said after a while.

"Same!" Amie and Tonks said in unison.

"I'm hungry as well." Tonks added.

"Nora?" Lana called out uncertainly. She didn't know whether she would still be at the burrow.

"Yes mistress?" the elf said with a crack.

"Can you bring us some snacks and maybe some drinks?"

"Yes mistress, anything in particular?" the elf asked the girls.

"Erm... Can I have some grapes?" Amie asked, always the healthy one.

"Lots and lots of chocolate!" Tonks squealed.

"And some butterbeer maybe?" Elena suggested.

"Good idea! What about elderflower wine? That's the best!" Lana asked her friends.

"Why not?" Elena shrugged and the elf whizzed away and retuned after a minute with a heavily laden tray.

"Enjoy mistress and her friends." Nora bowed and left.

"We shall!" Elena cheered and pulled out a tray of chocolate brownies. "Nom."

They cracked open a bottle of butterbeer each and drank deeply.

"That has to be the nicest drink on the planet!" Tonks said thoughtfully.

"Ha! Wait till you come of age. There's way nicer stuff, eventually butterbeer just becomes like tea or coffee. You depend on it but after a while it gets boring." Lana told her wisely.

"How do you know?" Amie laughed loudly.

"Hey! I got bored growing up. When I wasn't studying there wasn't much to do in all those rich people houses." Lana defended.

"Sheesh, you studied before Hogwarts," Elena said with a frown.

"No, course not. And the first night we we're here when she transfigured a whole room, well that was just your imagination!" Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Hahaha." Elena said sarcastically and then took a giant bite of cake.

"This is nice cake." Lana said happily.

"T'is t'isn't t'it." Elena giggled.

"T'is. Lana replied.

"Well, I'm thirst. Open that wine then Lana!" Tonks said pointing at the small bottle left on the tray.

"Your wish is my command."

…...

It was softness al around her. But darkness too. It wasn't a bed but wasn't anything she recognised. There was something on top of her blocking her and she couldn't get out. She flailed her arms around and tried to escape. She screamed and lurched forwards and

_OOF_

Lana fell of the chair she had slept in and onto the floor. The blanket that had been thrown on her to keep her warm fell too.

Suddenly there was a shooting pain in her head. It hurt. Her head felt like it had cracked open. She raised a hand to it but there was no blood.

_Of course not you fell onto a duvet dufus!_

"Anyone there?" She asked into the floor

She felt hands grasp her shoulders and heave her up.

"Morning sleepy." Elena said sweetly.

"Ow. Bad morning. Very bad morning." Lana said grumpily.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you fall of a chair to wake yourself up." Elena said dryly from her bed.

"I'm losing my touch." Lana shook her head amusedly.

"Ain't that the truth," Elena agreed and leaned forwards looking distinctly green. "Not Amie though, she's as chirpy as a bluebird playing with snow-white." Elena said bitterly.

"Well, lucky for her." Lana huffed as she collapsed onto her made bed.

"Good morning pre-teen alcoholics, how are you feeling?" Amie smiled, as she checked herself over in her mirror.

Amie looked different today. Her honey blonde hair was wrapped in a tight bun with a few straight tendrils curving around her chin. Her grey eyes were outlined in dark blue and she wore a powder blue, knee length dress with silver shoes.

"You look nice Amie," Lana commented with a smile.

"Thanks, I'm going to my cousin's wedding." Amie told her with a wide smile.

"Oh cool!" Lana said interestedly, having never been to a wedding.

" Yeah, they weren't gonna get married but Mary had a little girl like 2 years ago so they want to get married before the baby can remember it." Amie shrugged.

"Lovely." Amie nodded with a sigh.

"But hey, gets me out of school and gives me the chance to dress up!"

The girls laughed and said goodbye to Amie who skipped out the room and disappeared down the stairs.

"Isn't Tonks up then?" Lana asked when Amie had left.

"Nah, she's worse than you! I tried getting her up earlier. She swore at me and punched me in the stomach." Elena told her shaking her head.

"Oh dear! Are you okay?" Lana asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, it wasn't her fault." Elena laughed. "now, I'd love to stay and see how Tonks behaves when she wakes up but I have a date!" Elena sent Lana a dazzling smile, pulled on her luxurious blue cloak and left Lana alone with the snoring corner that contained Nymphadora Tonks.

_"Date, ha-ha. Only bloody 12." _Lana snorted to herself and rolled over for a few more minutes sleep.

…...

Lana was woken 4 hours later by a very loud groan coming from Tonks.

"I think my head hates me!" Tonks said indignantly.

"Yeah, sure!" Lana rolled her eyes and rolled out of bed.

"We missed lunch!" Lana gasped realising the time.

"Ow! Can you shut up?" Tonks asked pointedly.

Ignoring the temptation to throw a pillow at her best friend, Lana got dressed and instead, chucked clothes at Tonks instead.

"C'mon. We'll nip down to the kitchens and eat." Lana reasoned. Tonks groaned but dutifully sat up and began getting changed.

"I'm going for a shower, be right back." Lana told Tonks and left the dorm.

The cold water brought back memories of the night before.

"_Okay, okay. Truth?" Tonks giggled. Elena burst out in evil screams of laughter._

_"Okay! How long before you ask Diggory out?"_

_"Never!" Tonks told her boldly with her arms folded._

_"Okay then."_

_A few moments passed._

_"I dare you to go and tell him!" Amie suggested with a raised eyebrow._

_Tonks' smile faltered, her blue eyes wrinkled in doubt. Elena's taunts of scaredy cat made her small pixie face set determinedly._

_"Fine!" Tonks strode from the dorm with the three others following and hammered on the boys dorm._

_"What's wrong, are you okay?" Charlie asked urgently as he pulled the door open._

_Tonks swung round the door, humming loudly. Her eyes scanned the Gryffindor themed room for Noah._

_"OI, DIGGORY?" she yelled into the circular room._

_"tonks? what is it?" Noah asked as he walked into the boys dorm from the en-suite, smiling at his friend who had barely spoken to him since their argument._

_"Well, I am here to inform you Mr. Noah sir. That I shall NEVER ever ever ever, like you, in fact, if anything I DISLIKE you." Tonks rambled furiously._

_"Good to know," Noah said coldly. "Are you drunk?" He asked turning to Lana who giggled._

_"Take that as a yes." he sighed. Lana folded her arms crossly, she wanted to yell but her eyes were drooping, the heaviness of her body made her legs go weak. She took a step forwards and collapsed into Charlie._

_"Lovely." she heard before zoning out._

Lana dressed quickly and walked out of the bathroom. She had to find Tonks.


	25. The Forbidden Forest

_"Well, I am here to inform you Mr. Noah sir. That I shall NEVER ever ever ever, like you, in fact, if anything I DISLIKE you." Tonks rambled furiously._

_"Good to know," Noah said coldly. "Are you drunk?" He asked, turning to Lana who giggled._

_"Take that as a yes." he sighed. Lana folded her arms crossly, she wanted to yell but her eyes were drooping, the heaviness of her body made her legs go weak. She took a step forwards and collapsed into Charlie._

_"Lovely." she heard before zoning out._

….. …...

Lana dressed quickly and walked out of the bathroom. She had to find Tonks.

…...

The bathroom door swung open, and Lana hurried out. Her pale face was creased in worry and her olive green eyes were tinged with regret and amusement.

She saw Tonks spread out on her bed, half dressed and snoring lightly.

"Oi!" Lana shouted rudely at the pink haired girl.

"What?" Tonks replied grumpily as she was woken.

"You need to find Noah and apologise to him," Lana said seriously.

"What, why?" Tonks asked distractedly. Lana knew she needn't explain after a look mixed of realisation and horror drew on Tonks' face.

"Well, I was telling the truth." She said stubbornly.

"Nymphadora Tonks! I think you really hurt his feelings, so go and apologise!" Lana hissed, wanting the argument between her friends to end before it got too big to solve.

"What's the rush, I'm sure he realised we were out of it." Tonks groaned.

"I just… don't want his feelings to be hurt." Lana mumbled annoyed at Tonks for not wanting to apologise.

"You know what? I'm going to be the bigger person and apologise." Tonks humped and stormed out the dorm.

Rolling her eyes, Lana stalked after her, stuffing her hands into her heavy knitted cardigan. She followed Tonks through the school; feeling bored and watching the various paintings waving at her.

They spotted Charlie and Noah by the entrance hall doors and Tonks called them stiffly.

"Can I talk to you?" She asked Noah awkwardly.

Noah gave an indifferent shrug and stalked after her, leaving Charlie and Lana alone.

"Hey Lana, you okay?" Charlie asked nonchalantly but with a smug smirk playing on his lips.

"Git, I remember perfectly well what happened last night." Lana said light heartedly.

"Sorry," Charlie sent her a flashing smile. "Man, you completely zoned out though, one minute you looked angry as hell the next it was like, 'beddy byes.' and you fell over." Charlie laughed as they walked out of the school.

"You know me, live life on the edge." Lana winked but flashing memories of times she'd recently been ignoring leapt at her mind. "Not that I appreciated being put to sleep on a chair?" she grinned cheekily, hiding the pain in her eyes.

Charlie wasn't fooled however and concern leaked into his eyes. He frowned and asked her what was wrong.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Listen I said I'd meet Hagrid so I have to go." Lana said hurriedly.

"Can I come?" He asked hopefully. There was little to do on the weekends at Hogwarts, other than homework, so a trip down to Hagrid's was welcomed.

"No, it's private. I won't be long." She told him and walked away.

As soon as she was sure she was out of eyeshot, she ran. She ran and ran and ran down the hill that Hogwarts was situated on. She ran past the black lake and the merpeople that lived there. She ran past Hagrid's hut where smoke whistled out of the chimney warmly. She didn't stop running until she got to the forbidden forest. She stumbled a way in and collapsed onto a fallen tree, letting out sobs she had been holding in unknowingly.

The memories came flooding back to her.

_Closing the eyes of the woman who had cared for her for her whole life, recognising some men, they had long black cloaks on and matching masks. There was a mass of spells shooting out from every direction. Her mother's body, blood streaming from her head. Her father's body. Jumping in to the battle, silently taking out any masked man she encountered. Cornelia, Flashing red, turning to stone and then crumbling to the floor._

Tears leaked from her watery green eyes, glistening in the light that filtered in through the trees.

"I'm so sorry; I miss you all so much." She cried out into the silence.

She had pushed away the memories, she had told herself to be happy. Given herself time to adjust to school and friends. But she had adjusted and now guilt filled her heart for moving one. For forgetting her parents. For forgetting she was a killer.

Nothing had bothered her. No myths about her wand, no newspaper reports of wanted known death eaters. Nothing. But as she guilt flooded her system she regretted everything.

"I need to prioritise. I don't have to worry about my wand until I fall in love. I don't have to worry about being a murderer until I become of legal age to be prosecuted and I don't have to worry about death eaters unless I become an Auror. So all I need to care about for the next 7 years is school work, friends and my Parents memory." Lana summarised to herself.

"Sounds good."

Lana swirled around and saw Charlie leaning, casually on a tree.

"You followed me!" She narrowed her eyes at him, in anger.

"Yes, I did. You lied to me." He said.

"Yes, I did." Lana raised an eyebrow. "Touché."

Charlie smirked.

"It's okay to be happy Lana," he sighed as he took a seat next to her.

"I know that!" She said defensively. Charlie held his hands up to calm her. Lana's steely expression softened and she smirked. "When we grow up, I hope you'll still be scared of Me." she told him.

"Lana Elizabeth Dumbledore, I will always be scared of you." Charlie said with a cheeky grin. She batted his arm lightly.

"Promise?" She asked timidly. He nodded and laughed.

"C'mon, let's actually go and see Hagrid. I bet he's feeling lonely." Charlie suggested and stood. He held out a hand, which Lana took gratefully and they walked out of the dark forest.

As they walked, and the trees became thinner. The light filtered through and Caused Lana's bottle green eyes to burn slightly.

The bitter winds hit Lana and tangled her untamed waves of dark hair.

Suddenly, out of the silence. There was a scream.

A familiar shriek, one of a well-known pink haired girl.

"TONKS!" Charlie and Lana said simultaneously and immediately sprang into action. They pelted out of the forest.

As the welcomed image of the school appeared, Lana and Charlie searched the area with their eyes desperately looking for the source of the scream.

Fear rippled in Lana's heart for the girl she had come to love like a sister. The hyperactive, dramatic, retro Tonks and the grumpy, childish and stubborn side too.

Suddenly they saw a glimpse of pink disappearing behind a tree, further up the forest edge. They raced towards it. With a quick glance into the depths of the forest, they saw no sign of Tonks or Noah.

"What just happened?" Lana asked Charlie in a deadly frightened whisper. She was worried they had imagined it.

"I don't know." he replied, breathing heavily.

"Right, I'm going into the forest. You go up to the school and find Dumbles." Lana instructed bravely.

"Fat chance Dumbledore, I'm not leaving you alone!" Charlie said defiantly.

"It might be dangerous Weasley," Lana warned, peering at her best friend.

"Even better." They both grinned, but knew that they had to find Tonks.

They walked a short way in, their wands raised.

"What if this is a trap?" Lana asked Charlie uncertainly.

"What if it isn't?"

"Then, it's still dangerous and we're likely to die." Lana summed up sadly.

"Right then, continue?" He asked nervously.

"Continue." Lana sighed in agreement.

After a while of walking, there was still no sign of their pink haired friend.

"I think we need to turn back Charlie." Lana suggested cautiously.

"I don't think we can." Charlie whispered, his voice almost breaking. Lana looked up.

Between the trees surrounding them, stood several black cloaked figures, their wands raised menacingly.

Death eaters had found their way into Hogwarts.

"Miss Dumbledore, pleasure to meet you…again." one of the figures said silkily.

His silver, snake like mask framed grey eyes glinting with insanity. Long and straight almost pure white hair fell past his shoulders and his wand was wrapped in an expensive holder that bore an ivory skull as a handle.

"Let me think, you must be Mr. Malfoy." Lana guessed.

"Ah, miss Dumbledore. You are so much like your mother." Malfoy sneered.

"Why thank you," Lana beamed.

"It was not a compliment, filthy Muggle lover. Expelliarmus!" Malfoy hissed and caught the two wands swiftly.

"Where's Tonks?" Lana asked viscously, distressed by the loss of her wand.

"Oh, your little half-blood friend? At the school I assume, after all. She was never really here." Malfoy laughed evilly and a few of the other death eaters joined uncertainly.

"Taken up role of the dark fraud, Lucius?" Charlie asked with a look of pure disgust.

"Oh ho, who do we have here? Look my friends, it's the Weasley brat, the son of a poor man thinks he can talk back to us?" Malfoy laughed again.

"Rather be poor than the spoilt brat you call a son." Charlie shrugged. Lana felt a sudden surge of respect and pride for Charlie. It filled her blood with hope and determination.

Malfoy however seemed to disagree.

"why you insolent- Crucio!" he spat out.

The red beam shot out of his wand and hit Charlie. Charlie gasped, but didn't scream or yell. The pain cursed through his veins. The burning and hatred that was sent with the spell attacked at his mind.

Lana was screaming for Malfoy to stop, she watched as Charlie sank to his knees, taking a sharp breath as he hit the ground. She fell beside him, taking his head and stroking it tenderly as tears streamed down her face.

"stop, please stop!" she begged Malfoy.

Malfoy turned his cold, grey eyes to the crying girl and stopped.

"we're leaving now, grab them." Malfoy motioned to the death eaters who lunged forwards to grab Lana.

Charlie, lay gasping on the floor. He refused to cry.

He couldn't hear a word Malfoy said, but saw the men lunge forewords towards Lana. He shouted out and jumped in front of her. The men grunted and tried pushing him away, only to be blown back by an enormous gust of wind.

His head span and his heart pummelled at his chest, his last ounce of magic used up, he collapsed to the muddy forest floor and grunted in pain. With one last desperate glance at Lana, he lost consciousness.

Lana froze, the two men who had tried to restrain herself and Charlie had been knocked unconscious by the wind. It was just a few death eaters, Malfoy and herself.

"well, how should we play now?" Malfoy asked evilly.

" we shouldn't." Lana spat.

"now, now miss Dumbledore. Where are your manners?" Malfoy asked with a sadistic smirk.

"back at the school." Lana replied shortly. Her heart was In her throat, and she couldn't bring herself to breathe.

"incarcarous!" Malfoy sneered. Ropes shot out of his wand and twisted around Lana, binding her to a nearby tree. She whimpered and struggled against the tight ropes as they cut into hr skin, burning her bare flesh as they twisted. She tried desperately to focus on wand less magic, but she couldn't. she was to scared.

"perhaps, some entertainment?" he asked. With a flick of his wand, Malfoy was able to wake Charlie up.

Lana screamed out but it was too late for Charlie who groaned in pain before he was hit with the cruciatus curse again.

"STOP IT!" Lana pleaded, sobbing. She thought she was stronger than this.

He held the spell for all of a minute, before he flicked his wand. Charlie wheezed in relief and staggered to a tree. He slumped against it and down back onto the ground where his eyes flickered shut to keep out the light coming in through the trees.

Everything hurt. His head, his body and his mind.

He could hear Lana calling to him, and it lulled him to sleep.

Everything was silent for a while. Suddenly, from very far away, Lana heard the faint sound of somebody calling her name.

She took a deep breath in, praying that the death eaters hadn't noticed yet.

They had.

"We ain't got much time Malfoy, hurry up." one death eater groaned, looking around anxiously.

"Shut it, Goyle!" Malfoy spat. They voices got louder, but only fractionally.

"We can't risk murder, make it look like she was attacked!" Another death eater suggested.

"Good idea Avery, Sectumesmpra!" Malfoy whispered.

Shooting, stinging pain shot through Lana and her skin began ripping open and tearing away. She could feel blood flowing freely down her body. Suddenly, the ropes melted away. She fell to the ground, ungracefully and felt twigs and dirt penetrate her wounds.

She cried out as the force hit her body. She saw the death eaters backing away, through the trees.

Suddenly, Malfoy appeared next to her.

"Thank Snape for me." he spat at her and then left. Lana couldn't comprehend the situation. She couldn't speak or move. It hurt too much. She felt dizzy and saw a puddle of blood flowing around her body. She placed a grazed hand to a wound on her stomach and pulling it to her face, saw the bold red of her blood.

She flicked in and out of consciousness.

She woke up. She was still on the cold forest floor, but there were others. She could hear Tonks crying next to her and Noah telling her off.

"Tonks! We have to get some help!" He shouted, more desperately and panicky than Lana ever thought Noah could be. Then she felt the comforting presence leave her side.

The darkness consumed her.

Her eyes flicked open, and she cried out in pain. She could make out a black cloaked figure next to her waving a wand in intricate patterns. She screamed, thinking it was a death eater and tried to struggle away.

Moving hurt, everything hurt. The stinging and burning cursed through her body. All she could see was the dangerous redness.

"Lana! You're going to be okay, we've got you." she heard a voice say but she couldn't place it… Dumbledore? It couldn't be. His voice was laced with fear and sadness. Dumbledore was the strong one. He would've been able to fight Malfoy.

She fell unconscious. Waking up again she heard the worried voice of her grandfather talking with the potions master.

"Will she make it Severus?" he asked gravely.

"I don't know Albus; she's lost so much blood." Snape replied sadly.

_Darkness._

"MR WEASLEY, BACK INTO BED!" Madam Pompfrey yelled.

_Blackness._

"-Wounds are healing but she hasn't woken for more than a few seconds yet-"

_Nothingness._

"Wake up Lana, please?" Charlie said desperately.

"Mr. Weasley, you need to sleep." poppy said kindly

_Abyss._

"Oh, she was such a kind girl," Mrs. Weasley sobbed.

"Mum, she'll be fine." Charlie told her angrily. "Stop talking like she's going to d-"

_Colours, swirling and merging._

"It's quite uncommon. I mean. Somebody at his age being exposed to the cruciatus curse for so long!" An unknown voice said in disbelief. Lana blinked her eyes open. She gave a light groan as the light flooded into her eyes. Her sides ached.

"Well, they're both extraordinary. Destined to do great things I'm sure." Dumbledore said tiredly.

"Oho! Are they the green eyes of Miss Dumbledore I see open?" the stranger asked heartily.

Lana looked around; she recognised the familiar sight of Hogwarts hospital wing.

"Charlie?" she wheezed out desperately.

"He's well Lana, he's asleep right now." Her grandfather told her. He shifted her pillows and helped her sit up straighter so she could see he was safe.

"What happened?" she asked beseechingly.

"I'm afraid we need you to tell us, Lana." Dumbledore told her sadly. Her normally vivid, green eyes were now pearly and glossed over. Her wild dark hair was limp and matt.

She begged him with her eyes, to not make her retell the story now.

"Later my dear, now let me introduce you to my good friend, Horace Slughorn." Dumbledore said warmly.

"Not to worry Albus, we shall meet soon, I am sure. But for now, she needs rest." Slughorn said heartily and bowed to Lana.

Lana smiled weakly, yet gratefully. The man gave a quick nod in understanding and departed.

She fell back down into her bed, trying not to groan in agony.

Dumbledore sat watching her for a few moments before sighing sadly.

"How do you feel?" He asked her, his blue eyes shining with age the hadn't shown before.

"Like I have been run over by a tractor." Lana told him honestly.

He chuckled lightly.

"Well, I must say you gave us all quite a scare." Dumbledore told her.

"Why what happened?" Lana asked confusedly.

Dumbledore looked nervous, and took a deep breath in.

"Well, I was sat in the great hall eating a late lunch, when Miss Tonks and Mr. Diggory, ran in. they told me that you and Mr. Weasley had disappeared and that when they went to find you, they heard you screaming in the forest. Naturally they went after you and saw you unconscious and bleeding heavily. They saw Mr. Weasley also unconscious but appearing unharmed.

I gathered some teachers and we set to find you, led by Miss Tonks' instructions. We found you a long way into the forest, bleeding severely; luckily Professor Snape knew the curse and was able to stop it causing any more damage."

"Snape!" Lana gasped as Malfoy words returned to her hazy memory. "Malfoy got the curse off Snape! He told me to thank him! I bet Snape let them onto the school!" Lana said hurriedly.

"Professor Snape saved your life, Lana." Dumbledore said softly. "And I trust him completely." he added quietly, the look on his face was grim. As if he knew a storm was coming.

"Why! He was a death eater so what's different?" Lana asked stubbornly.

"Lana, he didn't let the death eaters onto the school," Dumbledore sighed.

"How do you know"?" Lana screeched impatiently. "I won't trust him until I'm given a reason to!"

"You should trust him because I trust him!" Dumbledore berated.

"That's not good enough for me, Professor." She said coldly. The good feelings that she held for her Grandfather after his trial were slowly slipping away.

"I know that Severus didn't let them onto the grounds because, I know how they got onto the grounds, when they got onto the grounds and why. Severus doesn't." Dumbledore said resignedly.

"Are you telling me, that you knew they were there all along." Lana asked incredulously.

"It isn't as if I expected you to go wandering into the forbidden forest my dear, it's forbidden!" Dumbledore sighed.

"I can't believe you, you're trying to justify letting Death Eaters, on school grounds!" Lana gasped in pain as she sat up in anger.

"Lana, I had notified an Auror friend of mine and was taking care of the situation." Dumbledore said despairingly.

"Who? Moody? Yeah cause he isn't insane, Godric! You just don't think do you? We could have been killed. Those death eaters were as close as they edge of the forest to the school!" Lana hissed, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"I think I should leave." Dumbledore muttered tiredly and stood.

"well thought." Lana said coldly.

With a final look of sadness, Dumbledore turned away From his battered granddaughter, knowing that he had lost any respect she still held for him.

The instant that the hospital doors had swung shut, Lana threw off her covers and stumbled off her crisp, white bed. She noticed flecks and stains of blood red as the covers over turned but ignored them along with the dull throbbing over her body.

She staggered over t Charlie's sleeping form and climbed onto his bed sadly. He was completely unmarked but Lana knew that he would never be the same again.

Not after the cruciatus curse.

As Lana shifted her weight, Charlie woke.

"Lana! Your awake." he gasped happily.

"yeah, do you know what happened?" Lana asked sadly.

"not really. All I know is I woke up in mungos, afterwards feeling absolutely horrid. You were in the critical ward. It was pretty edgy for a while. Everybody was talking like you were gonna die." Charlie told her uncomfortably.

Lana smiled weakly.

"you weren't waking up, while I was recovering. We were transferred back to Hogwarts when you started picking up. Erm… that's all I know." Charlie shrugged.

"oh, thanks….where's noah and tonks?" she asked worriedly.

"oh, at home. It's Easter holidays." Charlie told her to which she gasped.

"nofriggenway! Oh Merlin, we've missed so much school." she cried out.

Charlie snorted, "yeah, cos you were already struggling to keep up." Lana glared at him.

"well, I'd be home as well if they thought mum could deal with the twins, Ron, Ginny and a mentally unstable child." Charlie sighed.

"Charlie, everythings gonna be okay." Lana reassured him. But she knew the dangers of the cruciatus curse. She'd seen them.

"even Dumbledore?" Charlie asked coolly.

Lana didn't reply. Instead she lent her head onto Charlie's shoulder and sighed.

…...

The next few days passed unbearably slowly for Lana, Charlie however appeared to have perked up as he was no longer forced to spend the days only in the company of madam Pompfrey.

Charlie and Lana would chatter on for hours, play games or just read in each other's company. But at times, Charlie would go quiet. His chocolate eyes would gloss over and he would stare out the window, at the clear blue skies of April.

Lana would watch as he sat, his knees drew close to his chest. He shook silently until he could regain composure and turn to face Lana, who consumed him in an almighty hug.

On the morning, 3 days before the start of school. The Weasley's managed to visit their son.

Everything was going well, until something set Charlie off. He shuddered and breathed hard. Molly Weasley watched as her second oldest son, fought off the demons lurking in his mind since the awful incident of late February.

Charlie's expressionless face turned Molly to hysterics but she kept them at bay until the family managed to leave with hasty goodbyes.

Molly's wails could be heard down the whole corridor of the 3rd floor and the few students still at the castle stared in wonder.

The hospital wing was unbearably silent after Charlie's family left.

Charlie slumped down onto his bed and turned away from Lana. Lana sat cross legged on her bed, holding back the tears that threatened to spill by Charlie's alienation from his family.

She felt it too, but between her Grandfather.

With a determined grimace of pain, Lana grabbed a crutch from beside her bed. Poppy had placed them there conveniently incase Lana needed the bathroom and there was nobody there to assist her.

She hobbled out of the hospital wing, casting one sad glance back at her best friend who remained lying stiffly on his bed.

Making her way, slowly from the hospital wing, Lana made up her mind. She needed to speak with Dumbledore about Charlie's episodes.

She managed to get to Dumbledore's office without being seen but as she approached the door she heard the loud voice of Mrs. Weasley.

"Go on, we have to talk to the Headmaster. Go and wait outside!" she told her children sternly.

Lana jumped away from the door as it swung open and out walked Percy Weasley. Next came Fred and George followed by a peeved looking Bill Weasley carrying a chubby Ronald Weasley over his shoulder.

Lana waited for the door to swing shut and stepped out of the shadows, revealing herself to the Weasley boys.

"Lana! Are you okay?" Bill asked worriedly, shifting Ron onto his other arm.

"Yeah, just wanted to talk to Dumbles." Lana smiled sadly at bill. She hadn't really spoken to him much for a while. She noticed his vibrant red hair was growing past his jaw line and his honey brown eyes were full of concern.

"Well, Mum and Dad are in there now." he shrugged, unconcerned.

"Right, are you staying or…?" Lana asked.

"Erm, I was gonna wait down the stairs but I kind of want to hear what's happening." Bill smiled mischievously.

"Me too!" Lana grinned and sat down by the door.

Charlie shushed the twins, who were trying to slide down the banister and pulled them down onto the floor also. Lana took the squirming Ronald off Charlie and placed him on her knees, bouncing him quietly. His frecked face lit up and he clapped his chubby hands lightly.

The twins were excited to be a part of something so mysterious and listened intently.

"-I know the effects of the curse Albus!" Mrs. Weasley snapped, obviously angry with the smug headmaster.

"But it's like he isn't there at all. He was fine one moment and the next it was like he was a shell. A hollow shell." She said sadly.

"Molly, time shall heal him." The headmaster said knowingly.

"No, it won't Albus. You think I don't know about your brother and your father and your mother and sister? Well I do Albus, and do I think for a moment that your healed now? No, because if that pain was gone from you, then you wouldn't be human. You would be heartless." Molly hissed.

The Weasley boys and Lana heard Albus sigh.

"Molly, I know you're finding it hard to trust me right now. But I understand." He told her warmly. Lana shuddered at her Grandfather's charming facade.

"I think, what were most worried about Albus, is why death eaters were on grounds anyway and how they got here!" Arthur said calmly.

"Well, I believe that we have a spy at the school, Slytherin I assume but we may never know. The spy helped the death eaters onto the grounds and didn't do the best job. But believe me, as soon as I saw that the wards had been infiltrated I contacted Alastor mood immediately and intended to capture the rogues." Dumbledore told Arthur, he knew that Arthur was a big admirer of moody, and mentioning him would cause him to calm down.

"And the protection on the school has been increased?" Molly asked curiously.

"Doubled." Dumbledore assured her warmly.

Lana glanced at Bill who was shaking his head anxiously.

"What?" she asked from the corner of her mouth.

He motioned for her to follow him. She picked Ron up and grabbed Fred's hand. They walked past the gargoyle and out of earshot.

"That doesn't make any sense." Bill told her.

"What do you mean?" Lana enquired confusedly.

Charlie shoved a hand through his long red hair and sighed.

"Look, you know I like runes and stuff?" Lana nodded, hiking Ron onto her hip. "Well, I'm fascinated by wards as well. I studied Hogwarts, read all about them."

"Okay, so what's up?"

"Those wards are incredibly strong; they've been reinforced by every headmaster since they were placed by Rowena Ravenclaw herself. And there is no way that any spy or death eater could have gotten through them. I doubt you-know-who himself could have." He told her hurriedly.

"Well, they must have gotten in somehow else?" Lana shrugged.

"Then why would Dumbles lie?" Bill asked perplexedly.

Words evaded Lana.

* * *

><p>well, 2 chapters to go. right now i am 4 chapters into living simply, like a child (the sequel) but i have writers block :( please review :)<p>

Hannah x


	26. Trouble in Potions

"_those wards are incredibly strong, they've been reinforced by every headmaster since they were placed by Rowena ravenclaw herself. And there is no way that any spy or death eater could have got ton through them. I doubt you-know-who himself could have." he told her hurriedly._

"_well, they must have gotton in somehow else?" Lana shrugged._

"_then why would Dumbles lie?" Bill asked perplexedly._

…...

She handed Ronald back to bill and staggered away.

She heard bill calling after her but kept going. She swayed down the stirs relying heavily on her crutches and the banister of the ever moving stairs. She made it a few steps down before the stairs began to move.

She groaned in frustration and sat down, resting her head on the banister.

She felt the stairs click back into place but couldn't't manage to get up yet. She sat for a few moments breathing heavily.

Suddenly she heard a voice next to her and she jumped.

"sorry, I didn't't mean to scare you." the soft voice of art bones, Charlie and Noah's dorm mate said. Whizzing around, Lana turned to face Art.

"oh, no sorry. I was just resting."

"right." Art said with a slight smirk, observing she was sat on a magical staircase, four floors up.

"are you okay now? I heard about what happened." he asked with a frown.

Lana observed the boy in front of her. Art had sandy blonde hair with a tan face and hazel eyes, littered with golden flecks.

"what did you hear?" Lana asked sharply.

"erm..professor Dumbledore said that there was an incident in the forest and you were both badly hurt." he shrugged.

"what else?" she said desperately.

"erm.. He said not to bother you or ask you about it cos you weren't't gonna say owt." Lana gave a cold laugh.

"well spread the word art, it was no incident. We were attacked by death eaters in the forbidden forest. Charlie was put under the cruciatus curse for well over 5 minutes and I was cursed." lana told him bitterly. He nodded in acknowledgment looking at the traces of scars over Lana's bare arms.

"so your not okay?" he asked.

"no." she said bitterly. "will you be?" he asked.

"I hope so." she murmured before pulling herself up and staggering away, leaving the baffled boy sat on the stairs.

…...

When she returned to the hospital wing, she saw that Charlie had fallen asleep. She pulled his blankets over him in a motherly fashion and then climbed into her own bed, ready for a much needed sleep.

…...

Before either Gryffindor knew it, the new term began and Lana and Charlie were ready to move back in to the Gryffindor tower. Tonks and Noah had arrived at the school early to help them back and tonks showed lots of self control in not hugging Lana to death, due to her aching sides.

But the pain was easing thanks to Poppy, and Lana knew that someday soon she would wake up and be perfectly fine again. But she knew that Charlie would need a little more care. After all, there was no cure to an unforgivable.

Monday came with April showers, and the soft pitter patter of rain on the roof of the tower woke most of the girls dorm. Well, nearly all but tonks who remained sleeping blissfully unaware of the world around her.

Lana swivelled of her bed and put the kettle on, while Amie and Elena sat in their armchairs tiredly.

"eurgh, I cant be bothered with school anymore." Elena groaned, her almond eyes barely open.

"yes, cos that's the attitude that's gonna get you through the next 7 years." Lana smirked causing Elena to groan.

"its practically unheard of for wizards and witches of Britain to not go to Hogwarts." Amie inputted wisely. Amie often reminded Lana of a wise owl.

"yeah, its all the ministry really care about." Lana laughed bitterly.

"phaaa, who needs the ministry for a job." Elena asked.

"the ministry of magic employs over half of the UK's wizarding population." Lana told her.

"well, I'm gonna be in the other half then." Elena shrugged.

"why, what are you gonna be?" Lana asked intrigued.

"dunno, before I knew about wizards I thought I'd be an actress or model," the girl said, frowning.

"cool, you could still do that though." Lana told her with a smile.

"suppose," she sighed in return. "what about you then?"

Lana looked thoughtful fro a moment. "I think I'd like to help people. Maybe create new potions or spells?" she suggested.

"cool," Elena nodded and then turned to Amie who was avoiding her gaze.

"and what about you Amie?"

Amie blushed and looked at the floor, she was unbelievably shy.

"erm, I was thinking about becoming an artist but I'm not sure." she told them quietly.

"you'll be a great artist!" Lana beamed at her. She blushed again and shook her head.

"well, we better get ready for school then." she said to break the silence and the girls agreed.

…...

10 minutes later, and Lana was ready and trying to wake tonks up.

"tonks! Get your lazy bottom out of bed!" she groaned.

"alright, I'm up." tonks yelled as she jumped up and fell over.

"no, your down." Elena said cheerfully, walking out of the bathroom. Elena always seemed to look perfect after a trip to the bathroom. Her sleek honey brown hair as always, was tied up in a loose side pony tail, dangling over her left shoulder. Her eyes outlined in natural brown mascara and her heavy school bag draped elegantly over her right shoulder.

Lana scowled, looking at her own reflection. Her hair was untamed in loose waves. Her overgrown fringe was tied back at separate sides to reveal a middle parting and her heavy school bag was causing her posture to slant.

Amie tottered out of her bed hangings after Elena, she too managed to look lovely for the simplest of school days. Her blonde hair was up in a high pony tail and tied with a silver ribbon, that brought out her large orbs of grey eyes.

Lana looked at tonks who was still sat on the floor confused.

"we're a right pair." she muttered to herself as she pulled tonks up for school.

"indeed." tonks agreed, intruding on Lana's thoughts.

They bid goodbye to Elena and Amie and tonks got ready for lessons.

"come on! We're gonna miss breakfast!" Lana complained after her stomach rumbled.

"quit moaning, its not like he boys are their with a napkin full of toast encase we don't get there." tonks rolled her eyes.

"humph."

…...

Lana and Tonks managed to make it to breakfast with 10 minutes to spare.

"thought you'd never get here." noah told them, without looking up from his book.

"you know, it's only polite to look at the person your speaking to." Lana frowned, still mad at noah after his fall out with tonks, luckily the issue was resolved but hard feelings remained.

Noah looked up, with a wary expression. He locked eyes with her.

"sorry." and with that he turned back to his book.

Tonks sighed in frustration.

"so, we were talking about jobs this morning." Lana said conversationally.

"really?" Charlie asked, his eyebrows raised.

"yes actually, what do you want to do?" Lana asked.

"dunno, I'm not really into anything at school right now. Maybe quidittch." he shrugged.

"cool,"

"yeah, so how are you feeling?" Charlie asked.

"I'm fine Charlie, your like your mother." Lana laughed, ignoring the prickly feeling running through her veins. Oh, how she hated poppy's vile potions.

"is that such a bad thing?" he smirked, taking a bite of toast.

"no, suppose not." Lana said with a smile. Things were getting back to normal.

"well, come on then. The bells gonna ring soon." noah said after a few minutes. Each of the Gryffindors heaved their bags onto their shoulders and left the hall.

…...

The troubles that plagued Lana's mind were cast aside as exams came closer. The workload mounted and each night was spent re-reading all the notes they had taken over the past year.

Lana and Noah were also helping some Hufflepuffs with their revision, as they were struggling. This meant that Lana had even less time with her friends.

The four barely had time to talk especially with the teachers telling them off in class. Worst of all was Snape who had taken to docking points per letter of each word they spoke.

It was Monday and therefore double potions. Lana and tonks had taken their usual seats next to Charlie and noah at the back of the room.

"aah, I think its time for a little seating change if we want some of the less competent pupils in here to succeed in potions." Snape said silkily, narrowing his eyes at the four Gryffindors.

"sure, we'll help the slytherins." tonks said cheerfully, waving at Calloway Nott who scowled in disgust.

Snape flushed in anger.

"Tonks, swap with Bones. Dumbledore swap with Nott and Diggory swap with Edwards." Snape spat. Dutifully, Lana gathered her bag and swapped with the smirking slytherin. She cast an apologetic glance at Charlie who was left to sit with him and sat on the table with the rest of the slytherin boys.

Tonks moved to the table in front where Art previously sat and Noah moved to the table full of slytherin girls.

Noah scowled when tonks shot him a wink.

The instructions on the board, Lana began cutting up her ingredients skilfully.

Suddenly, her board flew off the table and her perfectly sliced ingredients fell onto the floor.

"sir, Dumbledore's making a mess sir." one of the slytherins said.

"clean it up girl." Snape spat, not looking up.

Lana took a deep breath in, and resisted the urge to rip the slimy gits face off.

Sitting back down she saw Nott talking to Charlie with a wide grin. His unnatural white teeth flashing violently.

Charlie was sat, stiffly and rigidly staring in front of him. His head was shaking and his normally tanned face was turning paler and paler.

Lana jumped up and walked over to him.

"what have you said to him Nott!" Lana growled as tonks and Noah joined her.

"not a word." Nott smirked.

"Good, cos if you have, I'm going to tear off your limbs and then make you eat them." tonks hissed.

_Whoa._

Nott backed away in fear but his face remained In the same cool and distant smirk as always.

Lana wrapped her arms around Charlie and pulled him away from the slimy slytherin.

"where do you think you are going miss Dumbledore?" Snape hissed, as he rose from his desk.

"I'm taking Charlie to the hospital wing." she told him and then turned away, guiding Charlie.

"I don't think so, Mr Nott is his partner and he shall assist him." Snape said coolly.

Lana stood still.

Pulling her wand from her pocket she turned around and fixed Snape with a deadly glare.

"like hell he is." she said coldly.

"are you really threatening a teacher, again?" Snape asked, tutting.

"teacher, Death eater. Which ever you prefer." Lana shrugged and the class gasped.

Then Lana let tonks guide Charlie from the cold room.

"this can go two ways snaperous." Lana held her joy back watching the man flinch at the play on his name.

"either, you let me go with Charlie and I catch up on my work. Alone. Or you keep me here and I refuse to do work and disrupt everyone else." Lana sang happily. It didn't matter now that Charlie was safe.

"I choose the latter miss Dumbledore. You wont disrupt anyone." Snape said coldly.

"oh really?" Lana smiled and sat down back on the Gryffindor table.

Snape eyed her suspiciously for a moment and then turned back to his work.

Within a few minutes, Lana had sent a note to all the Gryffindors in the class.

It read:

_Stop working, we shall strike for a better teacher._

The words were precise. And they worked. After 10 minutes Snape looked up to see half of his class sat there doing nothing.

"back to work!" he hissed.

He looked at each face in hatred as they shook their heads.

He turned to Lana.

"stop this right now!"

"I'm not doing anything professor." Lana smiled innocently.

"I shall have you expelled for this."

"go on then." Lana said hollowly. "but before I go, can I tell my friends a little story?"

Snape blinked.

"you seen, before Easter me and Charlie were attacked by death eaters. I was hit with a particularly nasty curse that caused many splits to appear in my skin, causing me to almost bleed to death. And as I lay there in a pool of my own blood, the death eater who cursed me appeared by my side and whispered something in my ear." Lana said to the Gryffindors who were listening intently. Most of them had only heard rumours of what happened.

" he said, 'thank Snape for me.' so here I am professor, thank you for telling Mr Malfoy a curse that nearly cost me my life. I bet your pretty annoyed you didn't teach him the killing curse cos then I'd be out of the way. Mind you he seemed to know the cruciatus curse pretty well." Lana finished watching Snape's face turn cold as ice.

"are you quite finished?" he asked.

Lana nodded.

"then get out of my classroom, I don't expect to see you here again all term." he hissed.

Lana beamed and grabbed her bag. Skipping out of the classroom she realised how better she was going to be at potions now.

…...

Lunch was a subdued affair. Hushed whispers passed through the hall of the events that had taken place in the first years potions class.

Lana had walked up to the hospital wing to find poppy making the bed that Charlie usually lay in.

"he's left dear, gone to lunch I think." poppy had told her warmly.

Lana thanked her and dashed back down to the hall, wondering how she'd missed him on the way up.

But she didn't make it. Outside the great hall, in the entrance hall stood a crowd of people surrounding Charlie, tonks and Noah. They all turned to her as she walked past.

"is it true you've been kicked out of potions?" a fourth year hufflepuff asked in awe.

"yeah, I think so." Lana shrugged.

"wow!"

"I'm not gonna stand for his blatant favouritism of slytherins. He's a vile man, and I cannot understand how Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea to employ this man to work with children." Lana told them and then walked into the hall.

_Hmmmm, potato salad._

She mused silently as she sat down. Charlie, Tonks and Noah joined her and began plating up their own lunches.

She had just raised her first forkful of potato salad to her mouth when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking at Charlie and noah who were sat opposite, their expressions told her all she needed to know.

"can I help you?" she asked, before eating her food happily.

"Lana, come with me please." Dumbledore said quietly.

She wrinkled her nose and sighed.

"fine, but I'm gonna finish my lunch first." she compromised.

"Lana!" her grandfather warned.

Lana rolled her eyes, threw her napkin down and stood up.

"lead the way." she said cheerfully.

With one last glance at her friends, Lana skipped out of the hall as the school watched in silence.

They walked up to the headmasters office in almost silence apart from the quiet humming of Lana.

The gargoyle swirled open with Dumbledore's muttering of 'liquorice wand'. they entered and swiftly climbed the spiral staircase.

Lana ignored the cold, hard backed chair and conjured herself a plush yellow one.

"Lana, I believe we need to talk about your class this morning. I know for a fact that professor Snape was most distressed about it."

"oh, poor boo." Lana sighed with her bottom lip stuck out.

"please be serious Lana." the head teacher reprimanded.

Lana held her hands up in defeat and let him talk.

"while, for now, there is nothing I can do about your predicament involving professor Snape. Next year you shall be returning with the rest of your first year mates to the usual potions class."

"marvellous. I agree completely, oh great wizard of our age. Can I go now?" Lana smiled and bowed her head slightly.

"Yes Lana, but I want your word you will behave and cause no more disruptions in my school." Dumbledore said, the twinkle gone form his brilliant sapphire eyes.

"I promise." Lana said quietly, but staring deep into her grandfathers eyes to let him know that she was telling the truth.

"goodbye Lana," Dumbledore said, as he picked up an elegant quill and began writing.

"bye." and with that she left, walking without thinking and soon she found herself stood outside the portrait hole. She waltzed through the common room and up to the dorm. Taking the picture of her parents and herself off of her bedside cabinet she curled up on her bed, letting a single tear roll form her eye.

…...

"LANA! Where the hell have you been?" tonks screeched, waking Lana up from her peaceful slumber.

"what's up?" Lana asked groggily rising form her bed. Her eyes were saw and the dormitory was dark.

"we have been looking for you all fricken day!" tonks hissed.

"and you didn't think to check our dorm room?" Lana countered in incredulity.

Tonks looked sheepish.

"well, no- but that's not the point!" tonks said indignantly. "you scared me to death, remember what happened last ime you disappeared without telling us?"

Lana rolled her eyes. "sure."

"what time is it anyway?" Lana asked as she rolled off her bed.

"erm, like 5 ish." tonks shrugged.

"what! I missed lessons, and Dumbles told me to behave!" Lana shrieked.

"err, that's not all." tonks sighed.

"what, what could have possibly happened in the past 4 hours and two lessons that I have missed?" Lana asked annoyed.

"well, you may have started off a trend." tonks said cryptically.

"what?" Lana asked dumbfounded.

"well, you may have caused … a few, people to stop well…doing potions." Lana's heart skipped a beat. What had she done. If tonks was telling the truth than she was actually truly and really dead by the end of the week.

"please tell me your joking." Lana whispered.

Tonks shook her head.

Lana groaned and fell back on her bed.

"when you say a few?"

"well, as far as I can tell every class apart from owl, NEWT and scared first years are planning on ignoring him until he starts being nice." tonks chimed.

"you took away the fear dude." she shrugged.

Lana gave a dry sob and pulled her pillow over her head.

…...

Soon after, tonks dragged Lana out of bed and down to dinner. Lana couldn't bring herself to look up at the teachers table because she knew all she'd see would be Snape's steely glare and Dumbledore's disappointed gaze.

Instead she sauntered down to their usual spot on the Gryffindor table and sat next to Charlie who was in deep conversation with Noah.

"I mean, Spencer knows his stuff but he plays such a boring game." Charlie said, picking at a chicken bone.

"yeah that's a fair point but- oh, hello." Noah blinked as he saw Lana.

"hello." she smirked.

"you missed charms and transfiguration." he observed.

"really?" Lana gasped.

"uh huh." tonks nodded through a forkful of Sheppard's pie.

Lana laughed and began heaping couscous onto her plate followed by chicken and pepper.

"you have such exotic taste buds." Charlie laughed.

"s'what happens when you live abroad for four years." she shrugged and tucked in.

"yeah, I was thinking, how is it that you lived in hot countries for four years and yet you're a pale as a ghost!" Charlie asked rudely.

"no need to rub it in dude! Maybe its just the magic in me." she shrugged.

"yeah, hey! Do you speak and foreign languages? I always meant to ask but I guess I forgot." Noah gasped in a most un-Noah like way.

"si, hablo espanol y frances y un poco de italiano." Lana sent with a flashing smile.

"pero, se prefiere espanol?" he asked, his eyes twinkling lightly.

"si." Lana beamed.

"cool!" noah smiled and returned to his book leaving Lana slightly confused.

Tonks and Charlie looked at each other confusedly.

"any idea what they're talking about?" Charlie asked to which Tonks shuck her head.

"we should have a language." she mused.

"hey, yeah! We should call it chonks."

"that's the nickname of that kid in 3rd year hufflepuff."

"oh, well what's your suggestion?"

"tonksingtons or nymph ray." she suggested.

"I like Nymph Ray!" he said playfully.

"now all we have to do is make the language." tonks said thoughtfully.

"oh yeah."

Now it was Lana and Noah's turn to look confused as Charlie and tonks began making random sounds and matching words to them.

After creating a few basic sentences Charlie muttered a sentence consisting of many 'glomps' and 'glebbits' to which tonks shouted: 'WERBLE!' attracting the attention of nearly all the students in the hall.

She flushed pink and muttered an apology down the table before turning to glare at Charlie who grinned mischievously.

"eat up, There's a gobstones tournament tonight and I'm betting on tonks. Mamma needs a new quill!" Lana shook her head.

…...

All to soon, the week passed and April was well under way.

As predicted, tonks had won the gobstones tournament and Lana had ordered a fine 10 inch peacock feather quill and the finest black ink in England. Her exams were very important to her.

"it's here!" Lana shrieked as she watched Icarus fly down from the rafters of the great hall carrying a medium sized thin box, wrapped in neat brown paper.

She took the package from Icarus and stoked him affectionately while opening the parcel one handed.

"whahey!" she cheered as she pulled the long beautiful quill from its wrapper and wiped it over Charlie face causing him to shake in silent laughter.

"Charlie Weasley, when did you learn to control your laughter?" she asked stubbornly. It was Wednesday morning so Noah was with his ravenclaw friends and Tonks was sleeping in as she had been in astronomy club half the night.

"maybe when you decided you were going to make tickling me a hobby." he said with a smirk.

"well, maybe I wont anymore." she shrugged, turning away.

"well, maybe that's good."

"fine."

"fine." Charlie finished as he dropped his knife and fork with a clatter.

"c'mon, lets go wake tonks." she smiled and they left the hall ready for another day of lessons.

* * *

><p>One more chapter to go! o.O can't believe it! well, i hope you enjoyed that :) and as always please review :)<p>

p.s thank you to my fab Beta- Greenlily96!

NEXT TIME:

_"yep!" Tonks beamed "so when this girl wouldn't leave Lana got really peeved and hexed her, literally into the ground. I'm serious. There was this big ditch and in it lay the hufflepuff. Like a grave." noah laughed in spite of the situation._

_"yeah, but it turns out this girl had like a phobia of dying so she started screaming bloody murder." tonks added with a smile._

_"nice." noah whistled._

_"t'was my friend." they sat for a while, in a comfortable silence._

_"hey Noah.."_

_"yeah nymph?"_

_"I'm glad your not dead." she sighed, leaning into his shoulder._

_"me too." he agreed amusedly, patting tonks on the head._


	27. Summertime Fun

Here it is! the last chapter! ohmigawd! :)

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>All too soon, the week of exams began starting Monday with charms. Charlie, who had the most trouble with charms, had spent half the night practicing with Lana. Meanwhile, Noah had gone to the library and Tonks was taking a nap.<p>

It seemed like she was up in astronomy every night which was rather unhelpful for Lana who had been handed the wonderful task of waking up the sleepy Tonks every morning.

For Lana, the exams went smoothly and she walked out of each classroom beaming. However Friday brought the potions exam for which Lana had to go to potions with Snape.

Everyone had separate tables. They had 5 minutes to prepare their ingredients and fire and then Snape put a recipe on the board.

Humming to herself, Lana began slicing her beetles. Snape silenced her with a deadly glare. She smiled at him sweetly and continued with her work.

The lesson passed quickly for Lana, she finished a few minutes before everyone else and bottled her simple forgetfulness potion several times, just encase some lame slytherin tried pulling something stupid.

She slipped a few of the vials into her robes and as expected she saw a glint of black flint flew over her shoulder and landed in her open vial.

The potion began to fizz and froth viciously. She saw Snape stand and draw his wand but Lana promptly vanished the potion before he had the chance to. He flushed in anger as Lana undermined him and sat back down.

"Finish your work and leave a vial on my desk." he barked.

Lana retrieved another vial and waltzed up to Snape's desk. She made sure he had seen it before placing the purple potion onto the teacher's desk and turned on her heel.

Back at her desk, she began packing away and watched as Tonks tried ladling her red gloop into the supplied vial.

"What is that?" Lana asked Tonks as she walked past her desk.

Tonks always the clumsy one, explained how she knocked some Billy wigs into her potion and then proceeded to blow out her flame by accident without realising. She continued to make her unheated potion until 3 minutes before the end of the lesson when she realised her mistake and then set the whole potion alight, in the process she singed her eyebrows.

Tonks lifted her bubblegum pink fringe to reveal the light brown and black brows.

Lana laughed lightly and waited for the bell to go. They stood for a few moments before Tonks pointed to the back of the classroom where Charlie was stood. His potion had turned out better than he had expected although he was rather struggling to get the potion into the vial.

They watched as the purple substance began climbing the sides of the cauldron. Charlie managed to force some of the liquid into his vial before clamping it shut with a cork and vanishing the contents of the cauldron.

Charlie, panting from the strength he had needed to control the substance handed the vial to Snape who hadn't noticed the live liquid, and returned to his desk to pack up.

The bell went soon after and the three exited, followed by Noah.

"Look, I'm off to chess club but meet me after for tea?" He asked.

"Yeah, have fun!" Lana beamed, waving her friend off.

He nodded, smiled and departed.

"Right," Tonks said, turning to Charlie. "What the hell happened to your potion?" she asked wide eyed.

"I may… possibly have erm… I don't know! I think Nott flung something in when I wasn't looking." he shrugged helplessly.

"Charlie! That's sabotage, why didn't you say?" Lana said reproachfully.

"Because there's no proof. Doesn't matter anyway, it's only potions." He told her.

Lana fixed him with a stern glare but decided to let it go. After all Charlie could be pretty stubborn.

…...

Exams were over, lessons had mellowed and summer came with clear blue skies and a bright yellow sun.

The four had taken to hanging around by the lake. Noah would sit, reading. Tonks would lay on her stomach, painting her nails. Charlie would often swim for a while and then relax on the banks with Lana, just talking.

"You should get in!" Charlie said as he emerged from the water. His shaggy hair glinting red in the sun.

"Ah, I don't think so." Lana shook her head.

"Come on! I know you like swimming." He moaned.

"Yeah, but I'd have to run back up to the tower and get changed and I can't be bothered." Lana muttered, while pretending to read witch weekly. Oh how she detested such magazines.

Tonks however, loved flicking through the bright coloured pages and gasping periodically about some celebrity couple. The most recent of her obsessions being Cestelina Warbeck's secret affair.

She flicked through the magazine boredly when suddenly she felt several cool drips down onto her warm hands.

Looking up, she saw Charlie leant over her.

"Summon it." He stated with a grin. Sensing she wasn't going to, Lana sighed and pulled out her pearly cream wand.

Tonks sat up the banks, watching amusedly and chattering to Noah who seemed like he was ignoring her.

"Now, when they get married I'm betting that they will argue about the number of kids they have." she babbled happily.

"What?" Noah asked, looking up from his books. His dark eyes wide in confusion.

"I knew you weren't listening." She hissed.

"Not true." He sighed.

"What did I say then?" She asked indignantly.

"You started by saying Charlie was a great swimmer, moving on to say he had a great body. Which is kind of creepy by the way? Then you began saying how jealous you were of Lana eyes and then you realised you can just copy them yourself and you did. But then you changed them back because you didn't want to be a copycat. Then you realised that Lana had your copy of witch weekly. Then you moved onto tell me about Cestelina Warbeck?"

He paused looking for confirmation that he got the name right.

"Yes, well her love affair. Then you asked why they didn't just get married which somehow brought you onto Charlie and Lana getting married." Noah summarised.

Tonks' mouth fell agape.

"Well, perhaps in the future you can nod or something to show you're awake. Or even better, alive!" Tonks said irritably.

"Women." Noah muttered.

"Oi!"

"Anyway, back to the question I first asked you. Why would they argue about kids?"

"Well, Charlie, having been brought up for most of his life with more than one sibling will want to spoil one kid rotten and give it more attention. While Lana will probably want loads of kiddies that she can surround with love and happiness." Tonks smiled.

"Oh right, I'm sorry. When are they getting married?" He asked confusedly.

"I don't know! Merlin, I'm not a freaking seer!" Tonks shrieked.

"Okay!" Noah said hastily.

Tonks glared at him.

Back down the bank, and Lana was waiting for her costume to arrive.

Charlie had re-entered the lake.

The lake itself didn't look to appealing with its dark waters, but it was a baking hot day.

Soon, the simple green costume zoomed from the sky and landed in Lana's hand.

She conjured herself a wind breaker to change behind and was soon ready to join Charlie in the water.

She banished the wind breaker and searched for the glimpse of reddy brown.

She saw his head, bobbing up and down a little way in. she swam out to join him.

"You came!" he grinned.

"Of course." she said with a dashing smile.

They swam for a bit, splashing each other and messing around.

After a while they heard the dulcet tones of Tonks, screeching in glee as she swam over to them, followed by a very annoyed Noah.

"Hey!" they beamed.

"Oh my God, let's play water tag." Tonks yelled happily.

"How?" Noah asked lazily.

"Well, you swim around and one person's on, and if you're not touching another person than you can get tigged. But you can only touch another person for 10 seconds." she said seriously.

"Sounds simple enough." Charlie shrugged.

"Okay, Noah's it!" Tonks squeaked and then began swimming away furiously.

"Hey!" it was useless for Noah to protest as all three of his friends had already scarpered as fast as the water would let them.

Sighing, he began a neat breast stroke after Tonks who was doggy paddling a little way away. She screamed as he approached and tried swimming away but her laughter was making her lose focus. She splashed around and fell under the water a lot.

As Noah swam within arm reach, she grabbed onto him to support herself.

But Noah wasn't expecting her and didn't take a breath. His head under water, he began swimming towards her when he got a sudden weight on his arms and back. He tried shouting but only swallowed a large gulp of water.

Suddenly the light of the world was fading and he couldn't breathe. The water crashed above him and he heard ringing in his ears.

…...

Tonks grabbed Noah, laughing heavily.

She had expected Noah to come to surface, laughing as well.

He didn't.

Tonks let go immediately and before she could help him, Noah began sinking.

Tonks screamed for Charlie and Lana and then tried diving under to pull him up. She couldn't as he was too heavy. She growled in frustration and to stop the fear pounding her brain and heart.

Charlie was the first to arrive and after realising the situation, dived down.

He emerged a moment later, dragging Noah.

He let out a cough of water and then began swimming to shore.

Lana and Tonks swam as fast as they could after him.

They watched in fear as Noah was dragged to sure. Charlie looked at the girls helplessly.

"What now?" he asked.

"I don't know any healing spells." Tonks hissed in frustration.

"I can try calling Poppy?" Lana suggested timidly. She had never used a patronus to send messages before.

"Expecto Patronum." she said clearly. A silvery, baby dragon appeared.

"Go to Poppy Pompfrey; tell her Noah Diggory drowned…sort of. We need help!" she told the dragon hurriedly and watched as it flew off to the castle.

"Now what?" Charlie asked hollowly as he felt for Noah's pulse.

"Now, we wait."

…...

Noah woke in the hospital wing. Bright light shone in through the windows along with a slight breeze. His chest hurt as he remembered the events of lake. His breathing deepened as he felt the feeling of helplessness as the water consumed him.

"Noah! You're alright!" Tonks sighed in relief next to him.

"Yeah, I think." he coughed slightly.

"Oh thank Merlin, I'm so sorry Noah. I didn't mean to crush you!" Tonks said guiltily.

"Hey, it's fine. I just wasn't expecting it. I'm not a great swimmer anyhow." he shrugged.

She smiled weakly.

"Where's Charlie and Lana." he asked.

"Oh, they're in detention with McGonagall."

"Why?" Noah gasped.

"Well, Charlie for swimming and encouraging others to swim in a dangerous lake resulting in your near drowning and Lana for: starting off a strike in potions classes; swimming in a dangerous lake and finally for hexing a sixth year Hufflepuff." she told him with a smirk.

"What, why?" he asked confusedly. He knew that the girls enjoyed hexing others but never understood why.

"Well, when Poppy came down to save your life. A bunch of people swarmed to nosy in. Lana told them all to, and I quote, 'bugger off or I'll transfigure you into toilet paper and then wipe my backside'." Noah stared.

"No. Freaking. Way."

"Yep!" Tonks beamed "so when this girl wouldn't leave Lana got really peeved and hexed her, literally into the ground. I'm serious. There was this big ditch and in it lay the Hufflepuff. Like a grave." Noah laughed in spite of the situation.

"Yeah, but it turns out this girl had like a phobia of dying so she started screaming bloody murder." Tonks added with a smile.

"Nice." Noah whistled.

"T'was my friend." They sat for a while, in a comfortable silence.

"Hey Noah…"

"Yeah Nymph?"

"I'm glad you're not dead." She sighed, leaning into his shoulder.

"Me too." he agreed amusedly, patting Tonks on the head.

…...

Summer brought clear skies, hot days and lazy weekends.

Summer, for everyone under 3rd year was extremely dull now that swimming had been banned in the black lake. Something everyone blamed on Charlie, Lana and Tonks.

Not just that but the three seemed to have lost more points from Gryffindor than the famous marauders did when they attended Hogwarts.

Most of Gryffindor had taken to glaring at the group or casting unsure yet sympathetic looks to Noah.

Noah received them welcomingly with sad nods. He had been cleared from the hospital wing with intentions to be a lot more careful about what adventures he got into with the troublesome trio.

"Mergh, it wouldn't be this bad if they got awarded more points." Lana pointed out one evening.

"Well said Lana!" Tonks agreed, and stuck her tongue out at the common room. Everyone in the common room, thoroughly offended pelted whatever they had nearby at the girls. Lana threw up a shield lazily and yawned.

"Beddy byes me thinks!" she smirked and waltzed past the angry Gryffindor's.

But luckily the time passed without the four causing their poor house to loose anymore respect and points.

Tonks was getting increasingly bored and Lana too. Charlie had taken to reading for once and Noah was spending a lot more time with his Ravenclaw friends in the library, but somehow he was always there when needed.

More points were added to the Gryffindor hourglass but still not enough to catch up with the slimy Slytherin's who had been given far too many points to justify by professor Snape.

All too quickly for Lana, and not quickly enough for Tonks and Charlie, the end of school was in sight.

…...

Professor McGonagall swept down the Gryffindor table, searching for her troublesome 1st years.

It was the end of June and the transfiguration teacher had the results of the first year's exams in her hand.

As expected, Mr. Diggory had done extraordinarily well. Miss Tonks and Mr. Weasley both did admirably in most subjects, although they did do abysmally in others. Miss Dumbledore however, scored full marks in almost every subject.

Most of the teachers had expected her to do well, after all she was Albus' Granddaughter but one the other hand, she paid little if any attention in class.

In the weeks after the exams, Teacher after teacher came to Minerva with their classes' grades. And in every class, Lana's results where top. It was extraordinary.

She caught a glimpse of Pink and instantly knew it would be where she would find the others.

Reaching the end of the table, she coughed gaining the attention of the four students.

Noah was the first to look up from his thick leather book. He nudged Tonks who was howling with laughter and looking up at McGonagall questioningly.

Tonks glared at Noah for nudging her and then followed his gaze up to the Professor. She beamed, even though she knew that the professor held contempt for her.

Charlie and Lana also looked up, though Charlie continued eating in a mechanical like fashion.

"Your results." McGonagall said stiffly, holding Noah's out to him.

He took them eagerly, knowing that his magical education depended on what was written on the paper.

"Thank you." he muttered, ripping open the envelope.

As he expected, he got all his target grades of O's and an E in Defence against the dark arts.

He looked back up at his professor, smiling lightly. She nodded curtly and handed the next set to Tonks.

Tonks took the parchment nervously and slowly ripped it open.

She took a deep breath as she read the scores. They were mixed, though she was pleasantly pleased by her outstanding's in Astronomy and Defence.

She showed them to the others, smiling brightly. Her Blue eyes gleaming.

McGonagall took this as her queue to hand Charlie his results.

"Ta'." he said cheerfully and took the results. His expression was mixed as he read, though was nicely surprised at his charms score. He showed them to Lana with a grateful smile and she beamed at him.

Finally it was Lana's turn. She took her results eagerly and ripped them open. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw her results. All O's.

The head of Gryffindor watched intently. It wasn't the reaction she expected. Clearly Miss Dumbledore had little faith in her own abilities. She would have to talk to the headmaster about some extra training for his granddaughter. Such talent couldn't go to waste.

She left the table and headed back up to the teachers table to finish her breakfast.

…...

The last Friday. The last day. The last lesson.

"Pssst!" Lana whispered to Tonks lazily. It was last period Friday which meant history of magic.

The dead professor Binns rambled on about the seriousness of the goblin rebellion of 1615 with true passion. So much so, that he didn't notice that half his class were asleep, and the other half daydreaming wistfully about the hot July sun beaming through the windows.

"What?" Tonks asked in a bored voice. Her hair was pure silver and her eyes were pools of blue water, rippling effectively.

"Ask Amie if she had a blue pencil." Lana asked sweetly.

"Why not me?" Tonks asked offended.

"Cos you haven't got one, dumb skull." She rolled her eyes.

"How do you know?"

"We broke it last week when we transfigured it into a dart and chucked it at peeves." Lana grinned, remembering the day last week.

Tonks too remembered happily and then turned to Amie, who was sat in her seat drawing quickly.

"Yeah, sure." She smiled and filtered through her pencil case.

"Thanks." Lana beamed and caught the pencil swiftly.

"What you doing anyway?" Tonks asked.

"I'm going to charm it so whatever I draw on the paper, it'll draw on Binns." Lana grinned mischievously.

Tonks mouth curved into an enormous grin.

"Cool! Make me one!" she beamed, and then picked a neon pink crayon to colour Binns in.

The charms in place, Lana began by drawing a cat sat on Binns' head.

"Wicked!"

Tonks started on a moustache and beard, and then moved onto long luscious pink hair that fell past the wizards knees.

Lana laughed uncontrollably along with the wake half of the class. Then she added streaks of blue into the hair.

"DUMBLEDORE AND TONKS, OUTSIDE NOW." Binns yelled. Finally acknowledging that his class wasn't paying attention.

Lana and Tonks stood and bowed before exiting.

"Worth it." they whistled in unison and then burst out laughing again.

They stood in the cool corridor for the rest of the lesson chatting amiably and often giggling loud enough to further disrupt the lesson.

At the end of the lesson, Binns called them in with a look of bitter disappointment.

"I don't know what to say girls." He sighed, shaking his head of pink and blue hair.

"We do." Tonks inputted.

"We're sorry sir," Lana said ashamedly, staring at the floor. When she looked back up her large green eyes were filled with tears.

"Well, as long as you're sorry you may go." Binns muttered uncomfortably.

"Gee, thanks sir!" They piped up happily and then swept from the classroom leaving a very confused teacher behind.

"Feels weird, no more school for like two months." Tonks mused as they headed back to the Gryffindor tower, they needed to pack.

"Suppose, I wonder what I'm doing over summer?" Lana thought sadly.

Tonks shrugged.

"You can always come to mine." she smiled weakly.

"I have to talk to Dumbles don't I?" She asked miserably.

Tonks nodded.

_Oh great._

…...

Somehow, Lana managed to put off speaking to her grandfather and instead decided to enjoy the feast with her friends.

They sat in their usual spots enjoying a delicious leaving feast, made by the house elves.

Charlie grinned at Lana and squeezed her hand before beginning to pile his plate high with beef and Yorkshire pudding.

Lana helped herself to some stir fry that Nora had made for her and watched the hall quietly, contemplating how much she had changed over the past year. For better and worse.

Now she had friends and was surrounded by love, even if they brought out the trouble causing side in her, whereas before she was a timid little girl who wouldn't ever stand up to her beloved grandfather.

"You okay?" Charlie asked softly, after a while.

"Yeah," she smiled but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Look. I really don't want you to stay with Dumbledore this summer. I think you should come back to the Burrow." He told her, looking deep into her worried eyes.

"I might not have a choice Charlie." she whispered, she daren't look up at the teachers table.

"there's always a choice Lana, even if it's only for a few weeks. Or days. You shouldn't have to spend your entire summer with him." he comforted her.

"I promise." she smiled weakly.

"good, now eat. Your too thin." he said seriously but with a smirk.

She batted his arm lightly and piled more food onto her plate, while listening in to noah and Tonks arguing about what type of potato was better.

…...

The next day, Lana and Tonks trunks were packed and they were ready to drag them away. But first, Lana had to go see Dumbledore.

"I'll be right back." she smiled tiredly and left the common room quickly.

She rushed to the headmasters office but slowed down as the gargoyle came into sight so she could catch her breath.

"fudge flies." she muttered and hopped onto the moving spiral stairs.

"aah, Lana. I've been expecting you." Dumbledore said cheerfully. Lana suppressed a scowl.

"really?" she asked dryly. Dumbledore shot her a look of disdain.

"now, I suppose you wish to know your arrangements for the summer?" he asked.

"uh huh." she nodded.

"you may wish to sit down my dear," Dumbledore sighed.

Lana sat suspiciously eyeing her grandfather.

"after watching your, for lack of a better word, progress this year I have decided that it would be better for us both if you continued your education in beauxbatons academy of magic." he said with all seriousness.

Lana's heart sunk and her heart hammered at her chest.

"no. freaking. Way." she growled in a dangerous voice.

"I'm afraid you have no choice Lana."

"what about my friends?" she asked.

"you have an owl don't you, you can become pen pals."

"your freaking insane old man. Your not tearing me away from the only friends I have ever had." she hissed standing up and feeling for her wand.

_Damn, left it in my trunk._

"Lana, please see reason." Dumbledore sighed also standing.

Lana made for the door but found it to be locked.

_Alohamora!_

Nothing.

"Let me out!" she screeched desperately.

"I can't my dear. Now please be quiet."

"What, you think I'm gonna come freaking quietly!" she said incredulously.

"I thought not actually, ah well there are other means of silencing you." he said and preformed a quick silencing charm.

Lana was trapped, there was no escape as suddenly the world faded from view.

…...

"Tonks, we have to go or we'll miss the train." Noah said annoyed at Tonks taking so long.

"we have to wait for Lana!" she hissed.

"tonks, Hurry up now!" he growled and dragged not only his trunk but tonks' as well down the stairs and out the common room.

Tonks was temporarily stunned into shocked silence. Then she cast a sad glance at Lana's bed and dashed after Noah. After all, he was always right.

…...

The three had boarded the train and searched it thoroughly for their friend.

She wasn't there.

"What's happened to her?" Tonks asked softly, staring out the window as Hogwarts faded from view.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." he vowed, anger on his face.

Their respected Headmaster had taken Lana away, and Charlie was going to get her back.

* * *

><p>ohmigod! cliff hanger much? there will be no chapters until after Easter so I can get a head start on writing. I already have 4 and a half chapters but the going is slow! :L well, please review<p>

much love,

Hannah x


	28. AN

Hello,

As said in the last chapter the sequel to 'A Fools Granddaughter' will be up after Easter hopefully.

The sequel will be called 'Living Simply, Like a child' and will take place in the groups second year at Hogwarts.

So that you don't miss any new updates, Put me on your Author Alert list please.

Also feel free to check out 'The Night it Began' which explains about the night Lana's parents died.

I'd like to thank everyone who favourited or alerted the story and those who reviewed.

I would also like to thank my Beta- Green lily 96 who has done a wonderful job on correcting me abominable punctuation and stuff and has also agreed to Beta the sequel as well!

Thank you to those who have stuck with this till the end and I hope to hear from you after Easter.

Much love,

Hannah x


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